Debut or Die-Chapter 354

A member who left early in the morning during their promotional period without a smartphone, and was out of contact for hours.

And what if their schedule was suspended for three days just before because of that jerk?

'He's crazy.'

This is inexcusable, insanity. I gritted my teeth.

'Cha Yu-jin left a note.'

I can tell the dorm was in an emergency.

If it were worse, it might have reached the company...

'...Damn it.'

I'm a fucking bomb.

I can already imagine Sun Ah-hyun's expression.

I gritted my teeth and looked at the intercom again.

Tiring.

Sun Ah-hyun isn't even standing in front of the main entrance on the first floor, but right in front of this very entrance. I don't even know how that's possible.

That makes it even more confusing...

"You're a junior member. Should I open the door?"

"...Wait."

After looking at the entrance, I took a deep breath.

"I want to open it."

"Hmm? Okay."

I left the guy, who was openly expressing his "Why?" attitude, and headed for the front door.

And I pulled the door open.

The guy on the intercom screen began to appear through the crack in the door.

"...!"

Seon Ah-hyun's face, visible in front of me, was pale, even with her mask on. But the moment the door opened, her complexion changed.

... I felt relieved.

Seon Ah-hyun lowered her head.

"Oh, you were here..."

I'm going crazy.

I barely managed to speak.

"I... didn't realize I left my smartphone behind. I'm sorry. Since this morning."

"...! Oh, no. I..."

Seon Ah-hyun took a deep breath and spoke without looking up.

"I'm sorry..."

"......"

Looking at her, she seemed to have been running around since dawn. What could possibly be wrong with feeling sorry?

“Uh, you’re making a fuss... Mu, Mundaedo, you might need some time alone... Okay, I don’t know...”

“No.”

I just want to stop hearing this damn apology.

I suppressed my insignificant sentiment and tried to respond as calmly as possible.

And then I failed.

“It’s the person who disappeared without contact, so let’s stop.”

“.......”

“.......”

Seon Ah-hyun immediately shut her mouth. I wanted to bite my tongue.

“You idiot.”

Why are you responding like that? Are you sucking up medicine instead of spit?

The silence was utterly horrifying.

At that moment, a disinterested voice cut in.

“Kong-i might mistake it for a walk, so I’d appreciate it if you could come in or go out.”

Wow!

The sound of a dog barking echoed through the hallway. Seon Ah-hyun suddenly looked up.

“...! Sorry. Th, well... uh, Moon-dae.”

We don't meet eyes. Something akin to a smile appears on the masked face.

“If you, feel better... come in, comfortably... here.”

“.......”

Then, the smartphone is carefully thrust into my hand. As if to tell me to take it.

“Ugh, I think I’ll need the phone....”

I looked at the dented apple pattern and clenched my fist.

Then I took the smartphone.

“...I was just about to leave.”

“.......”

“I’ll go.”

“Uh, uh...!”

I took the smartphone and headed out the door. Seon Ah-hyun hurriedly moved to press the elevator button.

“Whoa!”

And then, a dog came running out, excitedly, with its harness in its mouth... why are you...?

"Kong-i already misunderstood. Thanks to you, our walk was cut short."

"..."

"Kong-ah, wait. Let's do this."

I managed to speak.

"I'm sorry."

"Okay."

No, I meant it to your dog.

With only one harness back, the elevator carrying the three men descended in silence.

I was the first to speak.

"How did you know I was here?"

Seon Ah-hyun flinched slightly.

"C-Couldn't you see the CCTV?"

"...!"

CCTV?

An unexpectedly drastic measure came to mind.

Normally, this would have required reporting to the police or even going to the company... But Seon Ah-hyun didn't say anything else.

"No way?"

"T-It's urgent, so I'm p-pleading with you... You filled out the consent form and showed it to me..."

The subject isn't plural.

Did this guy go all the way to the management office alone to ask for something like that?

I checked his feet. His shoes were tangled and crumpled on his bare feet.

“.......”

It wasn't a very welcome situation.

Nevertheless... I felt a strange sensation, even though I didn't like it.

‘It seems like it's not completely over, though.’

The tension that had been building up to the brim eased.

I answered quietly.

“So you knew I followed this... senior.”

“...Uh, uh.”

Seon Ah-hyun nodded vigorously.

Just when the mood seemed to soften a bit...

“That's strange... Did I ever mention the lake?”

“...!”

“Even so, I doubt he'd show me the inside of a building he doesn't even live in... That won't do, right?”

The person in question hit the nail on the head.

But Seon Ah-hyun wasn't surprised.

"Yes, yes... T-that, I heard about it from my VTIC senior over the phone..."

"..."

"Who?"

"Chae-Chaeyul, senior. G-Gratitude, you let me know right away..."

"Ah."

I witnessed yet another disaster about to befall the guy about to enlist in the military.

"Too bad."

Bad things always come at once. Hang in there.

With that conversation, Cheong-ryeo and I parted ways on the first floor.

No matter how he felt, he knew how to take care of his dog, so he'd probably walk it just fine.

He did leave a comment, though.

"Hmm, I understand why you were worried. He's... the type that gets mood swings."

"...!"

"Haha. So it was a work-related issue. Then it's definitely something to worry about."

"This brat..." .’

He immediately recognized the danger of Seon Ah-hyun's stats dropping.

‘... That trait wasn't given to him for nothing.’

I recognized Cheongryeo's trait once again.

[Emotion (A)]

: Valuable things are rare, and trash is plentiful.

-Human Resources Judgment +150%

‘... I need to be careful.’

Seeing that his Appearance stat had even increased, it seemed like this kid would have a long way to go.

Cheongryeo lowered his voice and stopped speaking at that point.

“I won't change my advice.”

“Yes.”

Or something like that.

“Good morning.”

I pressed my face against his, then finally replied.

“...The tea was delicious.”

“Haha.”

Cheongryeo walked away with the dog.

And silence fell again.

Seon Ah-hyun didn't ask why I'd followed Cheongryeo, nor did she pry into why I'd suddenly gone out that early in the morning.

We kept our mouths shut and walked along the opposite side of the trail.

And then, surprisingly, Seon Ah-hyun was the first to speak up about something else.

"...I, uh, found Moon-dae... Is it okay if I contact you?"

"...If I go back to the dorm right now, they'll all be there."

Did some of them go to the police station?

For a moment, my mind almost went blank, but thankfully, no one mentioned reporting the incident.

"Ah, they're probably there... I, I came out alone, just in case..."

"..."

It seems he's been acting alone for a while, completely absent-minded. Now, he seems to have come to his senses, and Seon Ah-hyun, embarrassed even by his own thoughts, lowers his head.

I hesitated before speaking.

"Thank you. For your concern."

“...! Ah, no...”

Seon Ah-hyun suddenly stopped walking.

Judging by the muffled sound... it couldn’t be crying.

“Seon Ah-hyun.”

But the guy didn’t cry.

Instead, he continued speaking in a trembling voice.

“M-Moon-dae. I, this is tiresome, but... ha, can I just say one thing...?”

“...”

I nodded silently.

The words flowed smoothly, as if I’d thought them over and prepared them countless times.

“You... are truly an amazing person, and your... activities... whatever you do, you’ve done it really well, everything. You’ve always... never failed. I, I mean it...”

Ah.

I remembered what the guy had shouted yesterday.

-Now, you, you’re not the time to be active, active... . It’s getting worse...

He was crushing every negative connotation that could possibly be contained within those words.

“I, I... I spoke carelessly, so... Moon-dae has always been good...”

Still walking, on the empty street in front of the dormitory.

I blankly listened to him. Seon Ah-hyun didn't finish.

“Wh-the problem is me.”

“...!”

“I, I know... I... waver, and have ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) ups and downs. Every, every time... I’ve done that.”

Well.

As if she had overheard Cheong-ryeo, Seon Ah-hyun slowly pronounced her verdict.

It was cruelly objective.

“I... did that before too.”

As if he already sensed something similar, he looked down at his feet.

“Right now... I, I might be more, uh, awkward than usual... and... well, then, it would be a burden to the team...”

Seon Ah-hyun finished her sentence with the calm tone characteristic of someone who has already made up their mind.

"T-then... I can just announce that I'm sick."

"It's my, my problem. We don't have to talk about anything else."

Seon Ah-hyun swallowed.

"And, I'll practice, I'll practice, I'll practice hard, as much as I, I missed my schedule."

His voice grew increasingly desperate.

"Then, to some extent, on stage, it'll be, uh, okay. The team won't have any problems... My problem, it's okay even if Moon-dae doesn't solve it."

"..."

"Now, since you're the one who needs to go to the hospital... you said that, don't mind what I said yesterday... s-forget it. Forget it..."

"That."

Don't say that.

But before she could even say that, Seon Ah-hyun hurriedly continued.

"T-but, Moon-dae. It must be unpleasant, it must be unpleasant, but... ha, just this once."

His voice trembled.

“Can’t we... get some counseling?”

I turned my head.

Seon Ah-hyun flinched.

“I-I’m sorry. I brought this up again...”

“...”

“And, that’s it. Next time, I’ll definitely, listen carefully. I definitely will... I’ll listen carefully to everything you say...”

Seon Ah-hyun’s shoulders trembled, but she never cried or screamed.

She only stuttered, but in reality, she had already reached a conclusion inside.

—All conflict is mine.

It's my fault, and I'll take care of that myself.

So, Park Moon-dae, please be at ease and ask me to reassess my condition just once and reflect on it.

“.......”

I chose my words several times, then backed off.

The calculations were a mess.

But I knew what conclusion I wanted to reach.

“I'm ready to listen to whatever I have to say.”

Seon Ah-hyun nodded quickly. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

And then spoke again in a low voice.

“I, I asked you to tell me...”

“No, that's my fault.”

I continued without hesitation.

Your conclusion is yours, and I have my own.

“No one would believe it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a completely insane story.”

“Wh-Moon-dae...”

Seon Ah-hyun seemed to be holding back tears.

I nodded solemnly. My thoughts naturally came to rest.

Yes.

That was the root of my mistake.

"I should've said it clearly, so you'd have no choice but to believe me."

"...Uh, huh?"

Let's think about it.

Sun Ah-hyun isn't the type to intuitively spark ideas or make leaps in logic.

She's the type who sifts through the details, removing all impurities and contradictions, and then leaves behind the most appropriate answer, which she then accepts.

"That's how we achieved success with this album."

I know that.

Then I should've explained things accordingly from the beginning.

Now it's clear.

"This... isn't a matter of trust or intimacy."

It was a matter of timing.

And normally, I would've considered all of those things and controlled the situation, but the problem was that I misunderstood her as believing me right away and let go of the reins.

"You said you'd listen. Okay. I'll explain it again, so listen."

"...!! Th, th..."

This time, we'll fill it with witnesses and supporting evidence, leaving no room for error.

Then, whether it leads to death or life, we'll reach a conclusion we won't regret.