Debut or Die-Chapter 401
The song flowed across the stage. Beneath the dog costume, the singer’s voice could be heard.
The college student lent her ear.
“With the most beautiful heart
My confession to you”
Gentle, warm lyrics carried on.
“With a heart beyond kind
My love to give you”
It was a love song famous as a proposal tune or wedding blessing.
‘Ah.’
But here, it didn’t sound like that kind of love.
Maybe because of the dog’s form, or perhaps because of the voice.
“If you hear love
Think of me”
A dog saving its family. The sign had been a joke, but somehow, with the lyrics connected, the humor vanished.
“Today and tomorrow
I love you”
A mixed duet—male and female—sang plainly yet movingly in the voice of the singer inside the dog suit.
They could have chosen something more shocking or intense, yet they picked this song.
That choice only amplified the performance’s power. Strangely so.
“I love you”
With a profound, rich tone, the Welsh Corgi finished its final song.
Applause lingered in the audience for a long time.
“.......”
Frozen by some indescribable emotion, the college student remained rooted in front of the TV.
A strange longing, like nostalgia, called to her. She paused her thoughts and quietly...
[“Your House’s Welsh Corgi”’s moving performance!]
“...! Whew.”
The MC’s loud voice and the subtitles jolted the audio back to reality. The student shook her head to regain focus.
‘Anyway... that was amazing.’
Unless the broadcast had undergone massive post-production enhancements, the winner was all but decided.
Without flaunting enormous power or high-note tricks, they filled every necessary tone, creating one perfectly beautiful song.
[And the winner is... “Your House’s Welsh Corgi”!]
Sure enough, the scores showed a clear margin.
[Thus, the singer created on My Created Singer is “Your House’s Welsh Corgi”!]
The Corgi pressed its paws to its cheeks in delight.
It was cute, and there was genuine joy in celebrating the win—yet the real moment was next.
‘Identity!’
After the runner-up offered a brief farewell and left, the spotlight finally returned to the Welsh Corgi.
[Now, at last, it’s time to meet our winner!]
Confetti burst.
As the Corgi hugged its sign in a celebratory gesture, cheers mixed with laughter. The MC finally spoke.
[The creator of “Your House’s Welsh Corgi” is....]
At the signal, the Corgi dropped the sign, raised its paws, and—swiftly—removed the mask.
Revealed beneath were sweat-damp black hair and a cold, handsome face.
“......!!”
[It’s Ryu Geon-woo, main vocal of major rookie group WISHUS!]
...It really was an idol.
But before her theory could send shivers down her spine, shock seized her entirely.
Not an unknown face, but someone she recognized!
‘Ryu Geon-woo??’
The main vocal from that male survival show she’d almost auditioned for was faintly smiling under the Corgi mask.
‘I mean, I thought he was good on that show...but this much?!’
She had no idea it would be like this. Besides, his face wasn’t her type, so she’d casually watched.
She never expected the mastermind to be a rookie.
‘And one who trained only three months as a trainee...!’
He’d slipped on that Corgi suit and performed stunts like it was nothing?
Mouth agape at the TV, she watched Ryu Geon-woo hug the mask to his side with a grin.
Then he picked up the mic again.
“Hello. I’m Ryu Geon-woo of WISHUS. Thank you so much for voting for ‘Your House’s Welsh Corgi.’”
A weird mix of groans and excited shrieks bubbled from the audience, followed by laughter.
[May we hear your winner’s remarks?]
“To be honest, I ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) never dared to imagine winning. My goal was simply to passionately present what I love, and... I can’t believe this.”
[What surprised you most?]
“That so many of you share my taste in comedy.”
Applause broke out. The MC struggled to keep a straight face as he asked again.
[Do you like Welsh Corgis?]
“I love yellow dogs.”
Saying that, Ryu Geon-woo hugged the yellow dog head of the mask and laughed.
His cold, delicate aura softened instantly, and he looked somehow adorable...
[Let’s give another round of applause for our winning creator!]
[The ‘Your House’s Welsh Corgi’ created by Ryu Geon-woo will serve as this station’s mascot for the next month.]
Ta-dan!
With triumphant BGM, the Corgi slipped the mask back on, lifted a paw, and waved the sign cutely. The college student nearly waved back out of reflex.
And that was the end of the broadcast.
But the stir awakened within her did not end.
“.......”
The student drew out her smartphone.
Thirty seconds before a new Ryu Geon-woo fan account was created.
That was effortless.
Being a special broadcast, the lineup wasn’t stellar—but once it aired, the reaction would be peak conditions.
‘The editing turned out great.’
Already seeing “WISHUS Ryu Geon-woo” trending in real time, she judged with satisfaction.
She had plenty of time—she was at the salon for a late-night interview shoot.
Incoming congratulations messages on her phone could be checked anytime.
Just as she opened the group chat, emojis flooding in...
A private message arrived.
– Keun Sejin: hahahaha
– Keun Sejin: Mundae Mundae, did you see this? (link)
“Hm?”
She checked the link.
‘It’s social media.’
Maybe the Welsh Corgi had spawned a new meme.
Having not monitored it yet, she clicked to take a look.
A newly posted update from a few minutes ago appeared.
– “Geon-woo is just so cute I feel like I’ll go crazy—haven’t slept for a week, just waiting on the crumbs.”
...A fan of mine, is it?
The mention of variety shows suggested they’d first noticed him via the Corgi stunt.
‘So now I have to truly monitor this?’
If it was meant to cheer her on, she couldn’t call it a failure. She smirked and scrolled down.
Fan art of the Welsh Corgi with gleaming eyes, videos of the mask removal, then shots from her debut promotions—followed by chatter.
– “Actually, I’ve seen him IRL. At the WISE guerrilla concert, he did a hug event with another member.”
Oh.
└ Aaaah
└ Why didn’t you pick Geon-woo?
└ My friend asked me to support someone else... but that member was cute too. Only my heart for the main vocal didn’t flutter...
As chatter grew, this person even attached verification photos.
– “Here’s the wristband from that event... stop saying it’s fake” (photo)
In the picture, a paper wristband lay on a wrist.
And... it was the fabric I remembered.
The light blue knit the person wore when Jae-yul gave hugs, and that wristband.
The first home fan of Park Mundae had posted wearing that outfit.
“.......”
No way.
– “Thought you’d changed your taste, but I guess not—cold Geon-woo talk doesn’t work on me. Geon-mung, I’ll protect you!”
– “If we rent a proxy account, that’d be crazy, right? I know, but I want to do it...”
The account’s post ended there.
“.......”
Quietly, she lowered her phone.
“Geon-woo, any good news?”
“Yes. A bit.”
“Oh~ Ah, that Welsh Corgi thing!”
Similar enough.
Nothing had actually changed, but she felt back home somehow.
That night she polished the interview more carefully than planned.
Meanwhile, the ripple effect from the variety shows was growing uncontrollably.
Let’s rewind time a bit.
Even before My Created Singer aired, buzz began with the first articles.
– “They’re doing variety shows” (link)
– “OMG disaster escape lol can’t wait”
– “lol think they gathered only the funniest reactors!”
Groups picking variety-show members to boost was common, so people took it in stride.
The first to air was the disaster-simulation program featuring the three VTIC guys.
I’ll say it now...
...Cheongryeo’s choices were spot on.
– “hahahahahaha”
– “I thought that was shamanism”
– “When my friend suggested the comic method” (capture of Jeo Dan)
Fans saw the yes-men freaking out at alarms or quakes yet scrambling to act, and praised them.
And Judan’s nonsense actually worked, making him a mental pillar for the pair.
While those three charmed younger fans on SNS, shows targeting other demographics aired too.
– “Those three boy idols on Four-Legged Friends are crazy—please come back next season”
– “Shin Jae-hyun did Four-Legged Friends? No wonder my mom said he’s just like our Jae-hyun”
– “Watching Ryu Cheong-woo lift a 60kg Malamute made everyone happy” (capture)
On the new season of Problem Puppy Rehab, the two fixed members cared for the dogs excellently.
Focusing on warmth rather than laughs earned them goodwill.
They built a dependable, mature, likable image.
– “I’d marry any of them”
– “Watching the puppy makes me notice Jae-hyun next to it—no wonder he’s so calm and kind”
– “Wow, he should hate it once but he’s so patient”
Thus they won over older viewers too.
So far, fans felt uneasy about the sprawling solo activities, but it hadn’t exploded. It felt appropriate, and the success was clear.
But massive provocation came next.
– “Kim Rae-bin on School Rapping, Cha Yoo-jin on The Military Way...”
– “???”
Cha Yoo-jin’s military show and Kim Rae-bin’s rapper survival.
Fans exploded at this stellar lineup.
– “Kim Tae-in is insane, crossing the line lol”
– “They just had him on a survival show, now they send him to another as a rapper? He barely made it as an idol and now this?”
– “Sending a high schooler to military school show is too much for a kid”
They buzzed about faxing the agency, but before that, the shows aired.
First up was Cha Yoo-jin’s military show.
– “wtf”
And things seemed to go as fans feared.
– “hahahahaha this guy is nuts, the drill sergeant was speechless”
– “He probably goes home after”
– “If they wanted to test exemptions, they should’ve sent Ryu Cheong-woo—that’d be more interesting”
– “It’s so funny, my nails are itching to bite”
In the early broadcast, Cha Yoo-jin played the outsider role—like a foreigner with communication issues—or reaction bait. Being young, viewers laughed it off as “foreign rookie sidekick.”
– “I know Yoo-jin must be frustrated but it’s hilarious”
– “Still, he’s plucky and cute, doesn’t cry”
That was the vibe—until episode two flipped everything.
Cha Yoo-jin, as they say, knew how to work.
[Cha Yoo-jin: I’ll carry this!]
– “Yoo-jin, how are you not falling behind on gear marches?”
– “Damn, he’s tough”
– “He’s so polite and quiet—came from free America and fully adapted to Korean chain of command. What’s going on?”
– “He laughed doing helicopter rappelling, lol”
Since it’s variety, the training borrowed only the shell of real military life, but it packed in jarring, intense segments.
Moments that tested endurance or strength were abundant, and Cha Yoo-jin shone every time.
Plus, he didn’t complain, even baffling others.
– “They just do endless ranger courses and he never complains? They must’ve edited it”
– “He played football, right? No wonder—American football QB”
└ “Whoa lol legit?”
– “No wonder he was athletic”
– “I like that he doesn’t overreact with cheesy variety-show vibes”
By the last four days of the ten-day shoot, Cha Yoo-jin received flawless “ace” edits.
The show was already popular, so when his ten days aired over two months, his meme-level fame skyrocketed.
“Congrats.”
On the day he returned, Cha Yoo-jin—who’d quipped “I thought everyone but me was a football coach”—shrugged nonchalantly.
“I hate you, hyung. I won’t forget.”
Sure.
“Any other impressions?”
“The food sucks. And everyone talks like Kim Rae-bin.”
Three days later, Cha Yoo-jin reclaimed his speech style, pointing at the TV with a pout.
There was Kim Rae-bin on screen.
[Kim Rae-bin: I’ll do my best.]
[Lee Seon-jung: That phrase now scares me.]
School Rapping’s semifinals were underway.
By now, Kim Rae-bin had become the Grim Reaper image on the show.
Of course there were twists, but—long story short—his visibility also skyrocketed.
Jae-yul sat in her living room, grinning ear to ear.
“People must think Rae-bin is a real rapper, right?”
“He always mentions WISHUS when greeting.”
“Wow.”
With my identity now revealed, every member had left a mark on a hit show.
Predictably, the buzz exploded.
– “What even does WISHUS do?”
– “I realized I don’t know a single member! I don’t know their songs—how is this possible? Are they a comedy troupe?”
└ “lol”
└ “They’re even better live—watch their legendary debut stage, they slayed every performance” (link)
└ “They’re amazing”
└ “I watched with my mouth open—this is real”
└ “But seeing them all together, it feels like the universe collapsed”
When the hype peaked,
‘It’s time.’
The new album’s release was perfectly timed.
