Debut or Die-Chapter 343
I’ve been keeping at least a rough eye on the activities of Spacer, the group this guy belongs to.
Of course. If they’re the same agency’s same-tier newcomers, you always watch in case any surprises pop up.
Besides, he’s someone who knows the future, even if only a little. Who knows what advantage he might be seeing.
Not that that’s the main reason I’ve been watching him, though.
“It’s because he’s a card I can play.”
I remembered meeting him at the company a few months ago, when he was preparing for his first year-end awards show.
—Hello, senpai!
Strictly speaking, I meant his status window.
It should have been near the end of the debuff period, but his status window was still up.
Only, the content had changed.
[!Status Ailment: Make It Work]
“Idols really do need teamwork, huh?”
If the team fails to release a collaborative work within the period, it’s “failure.”
A new status ailment had replaced the old one.
“Ever since Chae Seodam hyung quit, the team atmosphere’s really improved! If we all stay friendly like this, mission success.... ...? We already succeeded?”
“Eeeek! There’s another one? What do I have to do now? What the heck is this??”
He’d already cleared the first status ailment, and the second one had popped up.
I guess the system decided that eleven months is basically a year, given that he got a second status ailment.
“...Have the conditions gotten harsher?”
Not sure, so I put that aside.
Either way, having the same user hold onto the status was convenient for me—less legwork.
“‘Collaborative work’ here must mean self-producing.”
Since they’re in the same agency, if I got involved a bit, clearing it within a year wouldn’t be impossible. Easy to manage. So I thought I’d been checking in occasionally to monitor his progress.
...At least, until the VTIC leader in front of me handed me an audio file.
“Why’s he doing this? I need to check.”
If it hadn’t been for that dog, I’d have shut him up on the spot, but I let it slide.
I looked down at the audio file from the Gold 2 appearance on the radio again.
“This radio program.”
I remembered “Future’s Midday Radio.” It’s a fairly traditional program we went on when we were rookies, too.
It’s hosted by a DJ with the stage name “Future,” and they’re famous for a ten-year-later spoof imagining what things will be like.
—Kim Raebin gave me a hundred songs!
—Cha Yujin, no matter how much ten years have passed, giving the same person a hundred songs is tough....
—He gave me two hundred!
—That’s impossible!
—Guys... I mean, thirty-year-old men, calm down.
I briefly recalled the absurd, chaotic sketch between Kim Raebin and Cha Yujin and shook it off.
Then I looked at my smartphone screen with suspicious eyes.
“Could he also be....”
I turned the volume as low as possible and played the file.
The host’s voice came in first.
[...There’s been a lot of buzz about a special friendship—our own Kwon Heeseung apparently remains close friends with VTIC’s Cheongryeo and TeSTAR’s Park Mundae.]
Damn it.
[...I heard you recently went on a ten-year friendship trip together? How did you become so close?]
[...Well... we all knew each other from the future, so we bonded.]
[What?]
[...We “knew the Future”~ we knew our host, Future, and shared that connection as friends!]
[Ah~ I guess Heeseung’s first appearance on our radio ten years ago must have made quite an impression.]
[That’s right! Haha!]
“.......”
He probably tried a pun to match the host’s name on the fly to hype the show, then realized mid-sentence, “Oh damn, that actually makes sense,” and froze.
“This guy with zero sense of tension....”
I should have taken him down when he called the two of us his “senpai friends” in the earlier interview.
I stifled a sigh.
“...It’s not a big deal.”
Anyone trapped in a rookie schedule that’s so insane they can barely sleep would make a slip-up like that.
Heeseung’s fans probably just ranted about asking about other groups on his first radio appearance and then moved on.
Still, I understood why Cheongryeo bothered to tell me this.
I gripped my phone.
“A warning, huh.”
If you look on the bright side, it’s advice.
About the risk of sharing secrets with others.
“I thought this needed management. I could handle it, but... I doubt the junior would like that.”
He offered a faint smile.
“We’re business partners, but neither of us is exactly the cautious type. I thought you might appreciate knowing. How about it?”
“.......”
“Managing people is always the hardest part.”
That wasn’t just about Gold 2, either.
He must have included the secret he spilled to me beside him.
“Park Mundae.”
Just then, Big Sejin spoke up. He looked like he’d pieced things together and murmured quietly with a serious face.
“That... Kwon Heeseung is an insider, too?”
“Hm?”
But it wasn’t me who reacted first.
It was Cheongryeo.
He glanced between me and Big Sejin with a slightly puzzled expression, then nodded as if he’d grasped the situation.
“Oh, you didn’t know. Sorry.”
“.......”
“I assumed saying he’d told me everything meant I knew everything. I guess it stops here.”
Then, with a trace of admiration in his expression, he turned away.
“You really know how to keep boundaries, junior.”
Unbelievable.
I bit back an expletive and replied calmly.
“If you were worried I’d cross some line and mess things up, you should’ve said so sooner.”
He seemed annoyed that I’d explained this absurd situation to Big Sejin, but Cheongryeo just tilted his head.
“Hm... I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
A misunderstanding?
“Junior, I don’t lose out in situations like this.”
“...!”
“I have more than a few good explanations up my sleeve for when scandals hit.”
Cheongryeo gave a slight smile.
“I’ve tested which words and expressions work. It’s hard to get hurt by someone else’s slip-ups now.”
“.......”
“You probably didn’t think I’d never experienced this before—you’re smart.”
I stared at him.
“You’ve told others, too.”
“Of course. I wondered if it could come in handy. But it lacked efficacy, so I stopped.”
Cheongryeo drifted into thought, staring at the air, then snapped back.
“So this warning isn’t for me—it’s for you. I told you. Consider it an apology and advice.”
Damn it.
I pressed my brows together.
What pissed me off most was... this sounded genuine.
“Is that so? Then listen. First, Gold 2—I’ll line up a time to manage him personally.”
I turned to glance at Big Sejin, who’d been quietly following the conversation, and continued.
“You don’t need to worry about this guy. He’s not the type to blab.”
“Of course not.”
Big Sejin reached out his fist.
“Do we have to do this right now?”
But if I didn’t play along here, it’d be even funnier. I bumped fists with him.
Cheongryeo, however, remained entirely indifferent.
“All right. I suppose you said you’d trust me. That doesn’t mean you understand me.”
“...!”
Without missing a beat, Cheongryeo muttered as if quoting someone else.
“People say ‘I trust you’ because we’re close, because we’ve known each other a long time, because we’re in the same group... plenty of reasons. It’s only natural. If you didn’t trust me, you’d think a member was crazy—and who wants that?”
“.......”
“But it ends there. After that, they’re hardly cooperative... so I discard them. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
He continued smoothly.
“Unless you’ve lived the same experience, you can’t empathize with such an unreal situation. So don’t expect too much.”
“.......”
“So that’s why, huh.”
I realized why he acted like he felt no human bond even with his own group members.
“It’s almost like he sees them as a different species.”
A chilling thought—and all the more so since he said it right in front of Big Sejin.
“Hm.”
I crossed my arms, about to speak.
That’s when a sleek voice piped up beside me.
“But senpai, I’m super cooperative with Mundae.”
“...!”
It was Big Sejin. What the hell is he doing now?
“Oh, really?”
“Of course. Come on—how many people grow up only having the same experiences? We’re friends. Friends having both similarities and differences is what makes it fun~”
“I see.”
“Well, even if you can’t empathize much, it can’t be helped! Everyone’s different. It’s totally fine~”
It amazes me how he can spin “you probably don’t know because you have no friends” so sweetly.
The problem is he said it to Cheongryeo, who was dredging up past weird memories.
“Hope this doesn’t piss him off.”
I watched Cheongryeo’s expressionless gaze as he looked at Big Sejin.
“.......”
“.......”
Don’t grin and glare at me together, okay?
I stifled a sigh and wrapped things up.
“All right. Everyone’s ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ got their own thoughts. Anyway, I heard the radio file. Hope the dog recovers soon.”
“Sure thing. Hit me up if you need more material, junior.”
“Yeah~”
Big Sejin answered for me with shameless ease. What, is he right-hand man to some gang boss?
“Killing the mood, aren’t you.”
Just then, the front door opened with a ding.
Honestly, I was almost glad.
And the one who stepped in... was a nervous-looking Seon Ah-hyun.
“Um, sorry... the camp meeting start time’s already passed.”
“...!”
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize you were working.”
Cheongryeo smiled and nodded lightly.
“Well, I’ll head in.”
“Go ahead.”
“Okay, okay!”
Finally, the vibe broke. Hurry and go in.
But Cheongryeo hesitated, then added after a moment.
“I’ll let you know when Kongi’s back.”
“...All right.”
I nodded at the masked guy.
Still hoping his dog would be fine.
Cheongryeo turned and took the elevator away without another word.
“Let’s go in.”
“Mm-hmm.”
We finally walked back inside. Big Sejin led the way, following Seon Ah-hyun toward the living room, then leaned in so she couldn’t hear.
“Man, that senpai really sure knows how to piss you off. Jeez, Mundae, how did you put up with it so long?”
“.......”
For a second, I almost shouted, “Exactly!”—embarrassing.
“Just so-so.”
“Mm~ right. You even used rough language on him. Must’ve felt good to blow off steam?”
“.......”
Come to think of it, I did.
I chuckled as he play-punched my back and then spoke.
Starting with the bit he must’ve been wondering about all along.
“What about the Kwon Heeseung stuff...?”
“Oh~ you know, he couldn’t say because it was someone else’s business. I could tell that much~”
Big Sejin seemed unbothered, since he’d already figured out that Heeseung’s next target was me.
“So now that you know, should I make him keep his mouth shut? I’m good at that, too~”
“Let’s wait and see.”
I hadn’t wanted to drag him in, but now the system-breaking goal will probably spill out all on its own. I sighed and followed him back into the living room.
“Is he gone?”
“Yeah. He’s inside.”
Big Sejin cracked a joke.
“He was really playing buddy-buddy with you~”
He lies so easily.
“...! You just let that slide?”
“Well, I just came from arguing with him.”
“...I see. Then next time I’ll......”
“If you do it, you’ll start a real fight—no way.”
“Hey!”
I let the two same-named idiots argue, then took my seat.
Seon Ah-hyun, who’d been sitting beside me, finally spoke.
“M-Mundae. Did something happen? The talk... got a lot longer than I expected.”
“...Hm.”
I hesitated briefly, then decided to stick to the bare bones.
“Nothing major. It just got a bit heated because of differing opinions.”
“Oh....”
Seon Ah-hyun faltered, but forced herself to speak again.
“Wh-what opinions...?”
“.......”
“N-Never mind. Sorry...!”
She apologized reflexively, even though there was nothing to be sorry for. I held back a sigh.
“...Is this the second time?”
This was the second time she’d asked me to share the secret, I realized.
She didn’t directly ask if I had any secrets, but it still felt awkward—Big Sejin probably assumed I’d heard everything.
I chose to stay silent rather than say, “No need to apologize, it was just personal.” Something told me it’d backfire.
“She doesn’t look upset, so maybe I’ll wait and see.”
That seemed to wrap things up.
But that evening, Seon Ah-hyun’s attitude at camp suddenly shifted.
Not for the worse—she was more proactive than ever before.
