Debut or Die-Chapter 392

Ryu Cheong-woo, having passed me the mic and walked over, sat down on the sofa beside me and opened his mouth.

“Great stage. I really enjoyed it.”

“Thanks.”

After a moment, he asks briefly, “Are you feeling better?”

I let out a short laugh. So he noticed it, too.

“Yeah. I’m okay now.”

Even looking back with a clear head, it’s ridiculous. I got so riled up just because I had to overwrite that first stage.

‘I thought, even if it felt weird, I could just go through the motions and move on since I’ll escape anyway.’

[No way! It was a shock anyone would react to!]

Is that so?

Let’s be honest. I’m not the type to get knocked off balance by petty emotional fights. Yet now I finally understand why I acted like such an idiot.

[What...?]

It’s simple.

‘I felt hurt, that’s all.’

From my first runaway fan edit onwards, all those “You’re no longer TeSTAR’s Park Mundae” proof shots left me irrationally shattered.

Which means... I’d grown fond of that reality.

No, not just ‘a bit’—‘a lot.’

I crossed my arms.

‘...It was my first time feeling like this.’

[Huh?]

I admit it.

‘It was the first time something like this wrecked my condition.’

[Gasp!]

It wasn’t like someone died or a landlord scammed me out of my deposit, but I still felt powerless.

I added out loud, “It won’t happen again.”

It was my first time, so I couldn’t handle it well. It won’t happen again—I know how to control it now.

[Ooo~ How do you do that?]

Why is he writing notes like Big Sejin?

I stated calmly: If a solution doesn’t occur immediately but I emotionally don’t want to do something...

‘Then I just don’t think about it.’

[Ah.]

‘If I have to do it, I do—but if it hurts my performance, I quit.’

That’s the fastest way.

I can’t believe I didn’t practice this simple truth. I secretly nodded.

[Hyung... Is that really a healthy approach? I think—]

It’s my choice, so I’ll do it my way. Got it?

[....]

The chat popup shook. At the same moment, Ryu Cheong-woo spoke.

“You might be able to do that, but when your heart’s tangled, it’s okay to open up.”

When I turned to look, he made a small gesture with his hand.

...It was the TeSTAR logo.

“We can understand each other. Right?”

“.......”

[Did you hear that??]

I nodded. Ryu Cheong-woo just smiled without another word.

I didn’t feel bad.

After that, we went back up onto the now-empty stage and shot the finale cut for today’s taping.

Judging by the agency head’s face, he was pleased with every performance.

The contestants cheered accordingly, and, unusually, we wrapped up in a good mood.

“Geon-woo hyung! I heard you caught the flu!”

Kim Rae-bin pressed a grandmother’s homemade su-seong-gwa into my hand—supposedly good for colds—and I got ready to head home.

“...??”

I thought to refuse, but a list of possible misunderstandings popped into my head.

– It looks shabby!

– You don’t eat food made by others!

– It might be past its expiration after the shoot!

...so I accepted neatly. To avoid offending his grandmother, I’ll invite her over before the next shoot to repay the favor.

That’s why I even shoved the water bottle into my bag while packing.

I could hear the excited chatter of the other guys sharing the waiting room.

“Hey, aren’t we all debuting together like this?”

“Ah, too many of us... I’d rather get eliminated.”

“Oh, someone wise knows a good deal.”

By the way, these are the guys Cheong-woo cut ties with—no chance we’ll debut together.

‘What have you been up to all these years?’

I looked at the two still standing around normally, grabbed my things, and stepped into the hallway. The others were waiting in the lobby.

And this time, just as I was about to leave the studio...

I heard a voice down the corridor.

“Ah-hyun, please wait a moment!”

“Yes?”

...It was Seon Ah-hyun with a staff member.

I heard the staff running off somewhere, and Seon Ah-hyun rounded the corner.

‘Hmm.’

The moment our eyes met, he immediately walked over.

“I was just about to say hello—good to see you!”

“Ah, yes.”

I bowed as befitted the mentor who’d just finished coaching the performance.

I thought he’d be generous with his scores for the other teams, but surprisingly he was blunt—which kept us safely in the honors class.

He was the ideal mentor.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we pulled off a great stage.”

“No, thank you! I got to try such a fun performance.”

Seon Ah-hyun ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) brushed his hand in the air and blushed.

“It’s rare to use trot music like this... it was refreshing. Thank you.”

“.......”

Stop thinking—just exchange pleasantries and part ways. That’s the plan.

But Seon Ah-hyun spoke again.

“And... I wanted to tell you, the storyboard you revised was even better than before.”

“.......”

“I think you found an even better solution. And...”

He continued softly and carefully: “The counselor I recommended... it’s still okay to meet with them.”

Ah.

I need to ask this.

Why on earth is he seeing a counselor here?

“May I ask who the counselor is?”

That should sound curious but respectful.

I even planned to drop the question if he hesitated.

But Seon Ah-hyun answered readily.

“They’re listed in my agency contract.”

Oh?

“Performing arts is always a battle with yourself. Counseling is part of the basic curriculum.”

“...Ah.”

So it’s part of artist welfare.

‘Then what context did his talk of “pain” come from?’

I watched him to see if he was lying. In reality he’s painfully transparent—but here he could hide it.

Yet his expression betrayed nothing.

‘So he wasn’t lying.’

Perhaps because he thought I was worried, Seon Ah-hyun added, “Performers must manage both body and mind.”

“Right.”

“So, if you want, I can contact them for you in advance. You can probably get about five sessions free.”

“.......”

Only then did I realize, looking at his smiling face—

He’d said all that on purpose.

To build empathy so I’d lower my guard, admit my troubles, and feel better.

‘How did I not notice?’

I eyed him warily.

So... he must be perfectly healthy.

Meaning he’s been getting all the care he needs while building his career.

[Yeah... that’s right.]

Exactly.

He’s calm enough to chat with a stranger who looks stressed and offer help.

A wave of relief washed over me.

‘Seriously.’

“...I’m fine. Actually, a friend already recommended someone to me.”

“Oh... I see.”

I’d overthought it for no reason. My brain went straight to worst-case. I clicked my tongue and withdrew my speculation.

Seon Ah-hyun smiled and asked again, “Then... shall we keep in touch sometimes?”

“Sounds good.”

I gave him my number, no problem. It’d be weird to refuse. I wasn’t about to throw a glove in his face.

‘Once I leave to go abroad for ballet, I’ll probably never see him here again anyway.’

We can just catch up when I return to reality. ...Though I honestly don’t know if he’d welcome that.

‘These things are a gamble to be decided later.’

No point worrying when you haven’t won the lottery. I stopped thinking immediately.

‘This is how you control it.’

It works.

Like I did with other industry contacts, I shook his hand out of habit and nodded.

“Well, I’ll head in now. Mentor-nim, have a good night.”

“You’re not a mentor anymore, so feel free to call me however you like.”

Persistent guy. I never thought I’d still be called “mentor” by him.

“...Then have a good night, hyung.”

Seon Ah-hyun smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes... if you ever need anything, feel free to reach out anytime.”

“You’re awfully generous with someone I just met.”

Seon Ah-hyun looked startled, then chuckled softly.

“I just... want to.”

Right, I’m still a pushover.

Thus, I obtained contact information with the ballerino Seon Ah-hyun—no “colleague draw” required.

[Seon Ah-hyun hyung]

...though that became the saved name. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

[Ah, hyung! Lobby!]

“Oh.”

Right.

After parting with Seon Ah-hyun, I headed straight for the lobby.

Before I even reached the main entrance, I was stopped again.

“Geon-woo hyung! Are you heading in?”

It was the two teammates from today’s team round.

Joo-dan and Cha Yul.

“Yeah. I’m just heading in.”

I was tired of talking to so many people today, but I couldn’t brush off the guys I’d just performed with, so I stopped.

‘They want to talk about the stage.’

They both bowed deeply.

Then Jin Cha-yul said, “Even though you weren’t feeling well, you led us flawlessly every time. Thank you! Next time, I’ll be a more reliable teammate.”

Joo-dan added, “Especially when we debut.”

“Right, when we debut!”

“.......”

Even though I probably wasn’t exactly in top form, they thanked me.

Plus, the setup I’d demanded in revisions required a level of expressive skill that even debuted idols would struggle with.

With their stats not fully developed, it must’ve been hard to keep up—but they didn’t complain; they just worked hard.

‘...They’ve got guts.’

I spoke.

“...Great work, everyone. I’ll take better care of myself so I can stay healthy from here on out.”

“...! Yes!”

I admit, they were teammates worth working with.

I looked at Jin Cha-yul, whose cheeks were about to burst with a smile.

Maybe that fan edit will watch this stage because of him... but I guess it’s better someone on my team likes it than no one watching.

“Your stage was amazing, too. I had fun. Thanks.”

“Ha ha....”

“Me too.”

Even without forcing myself to stop thinking, I felt unexpectedly at ease.

“I hope our stage airs soon! Hey, shall we watch it together?”

“No, that’s a bit...”

“Ah... sorry.”

“It’s aired after we start filming, though.”

“Ugh.”

I just laughed it off. Anyway, I’ll be debuting with these guys, so it won’t be that miserable.

By the time I finally set off for home, the guerrilla concert episode of Wise had already fully aired outside.

‘I should check the public reaction.’

Since I’d been away from my phone, I needed to catch up. I accessed the internet immediately.

And I was taken aback.

– “Ryu brothers are insane? Ryu brothers are insane? Ryu brothers are insane?”

– “I’ve found the perfect combo: Ryu Geon-woo + Cheong-woo. Adding Jung-woo too made the face merge go wild.”

– “Wolf Ryu Cheong-woo, husky Ryu Geon-woo, arctic fox Cha Yul... we’re calling this the doggo spectrum.”

– “Thank you for becoming idols... I love you.”

“.......”

I expected ClubMeBo to be torn apart for bloodline privilege, but it’s already a party atmosphere ditching the eliminated members.

There are even accounts using every contestant’s face as their profile picture.

It seems viewers are ready to put up banners for Ryu Cheong-woo.

‘What the—’

I immediately opened a search engine.