Debut or Die

Chapter 123

Seon Ahyeon didn’t stutter.

“…I will continue to do my best with the same heart as I have now… I understand what it means to be active and I will always do my best.”

His words were slow, and there were a lot of parts where he took a breath and paused. I heard some parts where he dragged the pronunciation here and there and connected the sentence.

But he didn’t stutter once.

“…And, to Loviewers who support us,…Thank you so much, I love you!”

“Love you, Loviewer!”

“Thank you!”

Behind Seon Ahyeon, who finished the last sentence safely, the members rumbled up the atmosphere.

But there was none of that.

The fan seats were already in a whirlwind of shock and emotion.

Aaaah!

Good job!! Good job!!

What should I do!! Uaaa!!

Even those who watched the video could hear the sound of the audience echoing through Testar’s microphone.

-Gasp????I can hear the fans????

– Seon Ahyeon’s fans will be out of breath

– ???This is a secret, but actually, I was a little touched.

?Me too??????

?????Is this the shareholders’ aftermath?

– Seon Ahyeon, you did well??

– It couldn’t have been easy. Amazing.

– Anyway, congratulations, Testar ???? You deserve it

Thus, Testar completed the award while proving themselves.

There was no shadow of the ridicule and condemnation that people had expected at the end of last year.

* * *

After winning the award and returning to the singer’s seat, the team members praised Seon Ahyeon one by one.

“Ahyeon, congratulations on achieving your goal!”

“Congratulations!”

Seon Ahyeo’s face reddened.

“T-Thank you…”

Hmm, he deserved the congratulations. Because he’d been through a lot.

‘Approximately… You practiced for about a month and a half.’

Seon Ahyeon started treating his stuttering symptoms at the time when he was so busy with the year-end stage practice.

Since he was still in the beginning phase, it was said that he had to set an easy short-term goal for a sense of purpose, and this was the goal that Seon Ahyeon set.

Expressing his appreciation without stuttering at the award ceremony.

Thanks to this, I saw Sun Ahyeon muttering that short speech all day long in the dorm, practice room, and car.

‘…Even the manager had memorized all the speech within a week.’

And it wasn’t long before everyone started treating Seon Ahyeon’s murmurs as half-asleep ASMR.

Anyway, it was definitely impressive that he succeeded after practicing for a long period of time without being overly impatient.

‘Once you succeed, you’ll keep going.’

It would be good for the group if the possibility of Seon Ahyeon’s status abnormality reoccurring was reduced.

I added a compliment, too.

“I said it would be okay if things didn’t come out the way you practiced. But I didn’t have to say that. You did well.”

“…! I-It’s not that great… There were parts where I breathed too much, I-I’ll really do well next time…!”

“…”

No… I’m just saying you did well. Why did you answer as if making up an excuse?

But before I could correct anything, Seon Ahyeon strike first.

“A-Advising me to consult… Thank you for telling me.”

Hmm, maybe it was something to be grateful for. I nodded.

“Don’t mention it.”

“Oh, so heartwarming~”

“Our team has a great atmosphere.”

The controversy disappeared and the Rookie of the Year Award was received properly, with all their worries gone, they smiled and headed to the singer’s seat cheerfully.

But the more I returned to the singer’s seat, the darker my mood became.

Because Testar’s seat position was right next to VTIC.

‘Why do you have a rookie next to you?’

Thanks to this, I had to greet VTIC every time I moved, but it was fine.

“Congratulations~”

“Thank you!”

The problem was that every time we greeted each other, Cheongryeo snickered while looking at me.

‘F*ck.’

Anyone who saw it would think that he was just laughing with joy.

It was because that bastard did a pretty good job of handling the SNS posts that sparked the controversy over the Rookie Award.

Every time he appeared on the year-end program, he uploaded a lot of photos on SNS, and in the midst of it, he added random cast members with phrases similar to Onyx’s post.

He was diluting the water, so to speak.

(TL notes: Diluting the water attempts = to distract from an issue by changing the topic.)

Thanks to the fans’ active clarification, everyone seemed to think that the Onyx case was just a coincidence.

…The only thing that upset me the most was the response, ‘He seemed to have a close relationship with Park Moondae, so I thought it was weird~’…Let me tell you.

“…”

After the greeting, I walked in slowly on purpose and sat down in the chair as far away from VTIC as possible.

It didn’t mean much, it was just to make my mood less bad.

Soon after, the first part was over and a few minutes of commercial time entered.

And the appeared on the electronic display as well.

[Magical Boy Testar’s magical artificial intelligence assistant!]

“Aaaagh!”

“Wow, please…”

The members screamed in agony and hit their heads on the table at the public certification of our (currently ongoing) dark history. The Russian roulette of horror was back.

[Kkyu! Curious!]

The victim this time was Bae Sejin.

Bae Sejin’s acting with the CG of hamster ears was natural, but the body had completely lost its taste.

“…I-I am going to the bathroom.”

Bae Sejin staggered from his seat with his face turning red and hurriedly ran away.

And the members were both sympathetic and laughing hard at the same time.

“Ahahahaha!!”

“Sejin, it’s fine, pfft!”

From clapping their hands to putting their heads on their knees, all sorts of reactions came out.

‘You’re saying it’s fine as long as it’s not me.’

That’s right. I nodded and opened a water bottle.

The moment I put the water bottle mouth in my mouth, someone sat in Bae Sejin’s seat.

And asked.

“There is one for each member, right? It’s funny.”

“Puuft.”

It almost came out through my nose.

‘F*ck.’

It was Cheongryeo.

The laughing members bowed their heads in surprise.

“Hello!”

“Yes. Hello. I’m just going to talk to Moondae for a while.”

“Yes!”

Give him dirty looks, you bastards.

However, since Bae Sejin was not here, there was no one to do that. Damn it.

At least, Keun Sejin seemed almost convinced that Cheongryeo’s SNS upload incident was intentional, but now he was smiling and nodding his head.

And in fact, this was the correct action.

‘There are fancams of the singer’s seat.’

Someone in the stands must be filming this scene.

Whether it was VTIC or Testar members, the current situation would surely be caught on at least twenty cameras.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Even if we talked here anyway, the sound didn’t spread because this place was so loud. Unless you deliberately speak loudly, even the members wouldn’t be able to hear you.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I should have told you on the last phone call… Don’t you remember?”

Oh, his SNS upload was not out of bad intentions, he had said something like that.

In summary, he wanted to explain ‘I didn’t mean to sh*t on you.’

Now that it turned out like this, I would listen roughly and end it with, ‘Yeah, that’s right. I understand’, but there was a problem.

“…You’ll explain it all within the commercial time.”

“Ah, that’s enough. Listen.”

Cheongryeo smiled and nodded.

“It’s best to die once at this timing.”

“…!”

“I thought about it, but that was the hardest thing for me at first. I was reluctant to start over.”

Cheongryeo tapped the table.

“But once I tried it, I realized it wasn’t a big deal right away. Then things became much easier from then on.”

“…”

Unimaginable reasons for why he turned out insane continued popping up.

‘Wow, this is no joke.’

I consciously picked up the water bottle and gulped it down.

The palms of my hands sweated.

“You must have had some regrets this time, too, right? Let’s go back and fix it. Then the pressure goes away… Instead, you will have a sense of accomplishment.”

“Wait a minute.”

I put the bottle down.

“Then, it’s true that you were trying to make me die by failing to win the Rookie of the Year Award.”

“Can’t you get the Rookie Award just because I did that? No, that’s not it… I just made it bothersome.”

Cheongryeo kindly added an explanation.

“The public opinion was bad, and the situation was annoying, so you might want to try it again.”

“…So you tried to help ease the process by reducing my rejection of my death?”

“Yes.”

“Mm, don’t lie.”

“…What?”

“Whether the process is going to be easy or not for me has nothing to do with you, so there’s no reason to do that.”

“…!”

Even if I had a very favorable relationship with this guy, there was no way this guy would have acted with altruistic intentions without asking for benefit.

I was going to listen to it roughly and move on, but at this point, I couldn’t predict what bullshit would come out, so I stopped.

Cheongryeo looked a little awkward.

“Mm, of course, it was a choice that took my position into consideration as well.”

“…”

“It’s not like this had any effect on you, hubae-nim… I am just curious.”

Cheongryeo slightly bent his neck.

“I want to know if I will regress if you die.”

“…!”

“That’s right. It doesn’t have to be to the first time I returned… The point you returned to is fine. There are a few things I want to fix in the first half of this year.”

This bastard was completely out of his mind.

It was the reset syndrome in the truest sense.

“Oh, of course, I’m not saying I want to keep starting again… But it’s good if you check it in advance. Isn’t it?”

“Hold on.”

I started to think that this bastard might bury me with VTIC scandal if I did this wrong.

‘I’m going crazy.’

…I didn’t mean to say this, but I thought it would be less risky if I said it.

First of all… He still looked like a logical person, so let’s start with logic.

“…First of all, I think if I fail, it might just be the end.”

“…Hmm?”

“That’s what I feel. I think I am just going die.”

Since I couldn’t mention the status window, I dismissed it as a feeling, but it was true.

‘In my status abnormality, only ‘death’ is stated.’

There was no mention of ‘returning’ itself like Cheongryeo’s status abnormality.

‘It’ll probably end with this once.’

Even if I could go back, there was no need to venture. It was good for my mind to think it was just the end of my life.

But Cheongryeo laughed.

“Ah, it would feel like that at first. But would it actually be like that?”

“…”

“Don’t be afraid and try it.”

This bastard, really.

I answered desperately.

“No. I don’t want to start over in the first place. I want to see the end here now. I like the members right now, and I like the fans. There is nothing I want to change.”

“…”

Cheongryeo closed his mouth. And he stared into the air without expression.

‘…Did I go too far?’

He wasn’t going to smash my head by suddenly taking out a hammer from somewhere, right?

But Cheongryeo soon nodded.

“…Me too, I guess.”

“…”

“Mm, I see. Well, then.”

Did it work?

I almost lost all of my tension all of sudden, but I held it in. He was the kind of guy that might stab me in the back again.

But Cheongryeo just looked a little apologetic.

“Anyway, I’m sorry if you had a hard time because of me this time.”

“…It’s all right. But next time, please confirm with me first.”

“Yes. Ah, then I should tell you some comforting news… Mm, that’s right.”

“…?”

“I’ll tell you the criteria for the Rookie of the Year Award assignment.”

Cheongryeo laughed.

“It’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ Award from Korean Music Award.”

“…!”

Korean Music Award?

‘That’ Korean Music Award?

… <Korean Popular Music Style> which excluded the commerciality and evaluated only the music… that one.

As far as I was aware, there had never been an idol that won that Rookie of the Year Award…

Wait, that meant this bastard didn’t win it either.

“Haha! Of course, it’s a joke.”

“…”

One day… when the status abnormality was over, I would smash Testar’s Grand Prize trophy on this bastard’s face.

Fortunately, before my patience could run out, Cheongryeo spit out the right information.

“The important thing is the public opinion after receiving the Rookie of the Year Award.”

“…!”

“You won an award that you deserve, this reaction had to be solid public opinion for you to pass. Of course, the premise is to win half of the awards at real awards ceremonies.”

…I see.

‘Was the ‘most prestigious awards ceremony’ that the status window referring to was the public opinion?’

It was plausible.

Somehow, even at this Goldie Rookie Award, the status abnormality goal achievement pop-up didn’t t appear, so it probably wouldn’t appear until February.

And the moment I made that conclusion, Bae Sejin, who had run away, returned.

“…! Excuse me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll get up. Moondae, I’ll contact you again.”

“…”

I couldn’t bear to give a positive answer, but I nodded, self-conscious of the fancam.

Cheongryeo waved to Testar members and went back to his seat.

Bae Sejin looked at Cheongryeo with a slightly reluctant face, then sat down in his seat, looking a little uncomfortable.

“…Are you close with him?”

I wondered briefly why Bae Sejin didn’t call him sunbae, but I soon realized that it had been more than 14 years since Bae Sejin had debuted.

So I easily put on a straight face.

“No, we were talking about work.”

“…Work?”

“Oh, the social life of Moondae~”

Perhaps our voice was a little loud, Keun Sejin listened and giggled. It seemed he had guessed that Cheongryeo must have made an excuse about the SNS.

However, Bae Sejin whispered with a slightly serious face.

“Tell me if he’s bothering you.”

“…”

Maybe Bae Sejin recalled his past experience as a child actor and thought about the abuse of power by seniors in the industry… Wait, I supposed it was true in a way.

Anyway, since this issue was impossible to explain, I just nodded my head vaguely.

“In that case, I will tell you. Thank you.”

“…Alright.”

On this day, Testar received the main prize and performed the stage well without any mistakes, and then they returned home.

By the way, the group that won the Grand Prize was VITC.

…I hoped they would continue to win the awards until my status abnormality was over.

Some madman might attack me in the middle of the night to regress.

* * *

And the day after the Golden Disc Awards.

I prepared my heart, but I heard some unwelcome news.

“I heard he went to work today?”

A new director was appointed to the company.