Debut or Die

Chapter 45

“…”

I carefully removed my hand from the handle on the front door of the apartment so as to not make any sound.

I definitely double-locked it before I went out to shoot, but when I come back, all the locks are unlocked?

‘It has come to this.’

A problem that comes with fame. The invasion of privacy.

It was an issue I was already worried about. I just left it because I didn’t have any other financial measures.

‘… First of all, there are no important things inside.’

I didn’t buy much and I already brought all my clothes to the filming, so there was nothing valuable in the apartment.

‘Then let’s go out quietly like this…’

The moment I thought of this, my smartphone rang.

Ring!

[Seon Ahyeon]

When I checked the name on the screen, I realized a problem.

The walls of this apartment were just like paper sheets, so it wasn’t soundproof.

‘F*ck.’

I hastily moved away from the door.

And I ran to the emergency exit right away.

As soon as I turned at the corner in front of the emergency exit and entered the blind spot, I heard the door open.

Screech.

Poking her head out through the door, I saw the back of a woman’s head who was looking around and entering.

She looked like a normal person. I’d never seen her before, but the problem was that she was breaking into someone else’s house.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

‘It’s driving me crazy.’

First of all, I went out to the stairs outside the emergency exit and answered the phone.

It was Seon Ahyeon who made the call, appearing on the screen.

– M-Moondae… Have you eaten yet?

“I haven’t, but I don’t think now is the time for me to eat.”

– W-What?

“There’s someone breaking into the house.”

– H-Huh.

I could hear Seon Ahyeon swallowing his breath behind the phone and his parents’ voices asking what was going on.

Originally, I would have roughly hung up on him, but right now it wasn’t a situation where I could pretend to be bothered.

‘I’ll have to ask you to give me a ride to the police station.’

If I called 112 and a police car arrived, the neighborhood would become noisy and strange rumors could arise.

It was a last-minute thing, so there was no need to give any excuse.

So, I was thinking of going in person, explaining the situation, and quietly handing it over.

‘I thought it would take forever to call a taxi, but it turned out better.’

– W-Wait. W-We’ll be right there. Come down right away! I-I have to report…

“I’ll go and do it myself. I’m sorry, but can you give me a ride to the police station?”

– O-Of course!

I talked to Seon Ahyeon on the phone and went down the stairs right away.

I thought I was going to go through all sorts of things.

* * *

After that, fortunately, things went smoothly.

Seon Ahyeon and his parents, who were more shocked than me, ran to the police station right away, so I was able to proceed with the report immediately.

– Yes? Ah, the woman…

– I don’t know her.

– Ah, I see.

The police seemed a little unenthusiastic, but they were dispatched anyway.

And here’s what came to light.

‘I didn’t know it wasn’t just one person.’

There were a total of four people in the apartment. They rummaged through the house together and were packing up tableware and clothes.

After several people who had a history of stalking other idols joined forces and followed me, they went past the security and broke into the sloppy apartment.

‘I couldn’t even imagine it.’

I bitterly rubbed my shoulders.

Even worse, the police had been consistent in their attitude that they really didn’t want to arrest them.

‘Was it bad luck to pick this neighborhood?’

The four people who were discovered also smiled as they kept trying to talk to me without showing any signs of nervousness.

– Hey!

– Moondae, can’t you hear me?

– You can hear me. Answer me~

– Park Moondae!

‘They probably will get released with just a warning or a fine.’

If I don’t move out of the apartment, I will be in big trouble.

“M-Moondae. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Ah, I am fine.”

Seon Ahyeon restlessly lifted his chopsticks and put them down. I was embarrassed because we were supposed to be having a meal.

Here’s what I heard after the whole affair.

– W-We decided to eat out nearby, so I-I thought it would be nice to eat together…

– Ah, so that’s why you called.

– Yes!

Thanks to this, right now I was dining out together with Seon Ahyeon in a restaurant.

‘The galbi in this place is good.’

(TL note: Galbi = a type of grilled dish in Korean cuisine and usually made with short beef ribs.)

I silently took the meat to my mouth. Since I couldn’t sleep, I should eat well.

“Oh, my God, there are so many weird people these days. How could they do that…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to contact your parents first?”

Seon Ahyeon’s parents repeated this conversation pattern several times as if they were still shocked.

Hmm. I pondered for a moment, but eventually, I just told the truth.

Today, I received a lot of help in various and they even gave me food, so at least I should show sincerity in answering their question.

“There were some accidents before… My parents are not here.”

Gasp. Looking at Seon Ahyeon’s father who swallowed his breath, his mother quietly asked.

“Do you have any other adults to contact with?”

“No one in particular… comes to mind.”

I didn’t know anyone like that because I just came into Park Moondae’s body, but there was no sign that ‘Park Moondae’ had a guardian.

‘We’re really similar in that aspect.’

Now that I see it, it’s kind of interesting. I wondered if the similarity in the background was among the reasons why I entered Park Moondae’s body.

But the atmosphere on the table is sinking like a swamp, so let’s fix it first.

“It wasn’t always like this. It happened because of a number of circumstances… I don’t have any particular problem with my living arrangement.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Seon Ahyeon’s mother smiled instead of making a fuss.

“Yeah. If you live alone, you must have been busy with so many things to do, but thank you for taking good care of our Ahyeon.”

“No, I got a lot of help.”

“…”

At this point, I thought Seon Ahyeon would jump up and deny it, but he didn’t say anything. When I turned around, Seon Ahyeon was turning the meat upside down with his mouth closed.

‘Come to think of it, did he know that I don’t have parents?’

Now that I thought about it, I only talked to the production team, and it hadn’t been aired on TV since then.

He must be quite surprised, but it seemed Seon Ahyeon was trying not to express himself as much as possible.

‘I guess you prefer that kind of reaction.’

Now that I looked at it, maybe that was the reason why Ahyeon followed ‘Park Moondae’ in the early stages of filming.

‘Is it because I reacted appropriately to Seon Ahyeon’s symptoms in the first ranking evaluation?’

The guess was roughly correct.

‘Well, this reasoning is not important.’

I shrugged and picked up more meat. Since I didn’t have any other choice, I would spend the day in that apartment and try to find some other place tomorrow.

However, right after the meal, a helping hand was unexpectedly extended to me.

“B-Back there?”

“They’ve been caught, so at least they won’t come today.”

“S-Still…….”

Seon Ahyeon and his family, who were startled to hear that I was going to return to the apartment, told me I could live in Seon Ahyeon’s house until the next filming.

“…?”

I don’t know what it’s all about, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, so let’s just shut up and follow.

* * *

Around the time Park Moondae was enjoying the unexpected upgrade of his residence,people who finished watching were frantically releasing spoilers on the internet.

Because the program was so popular, at this point, the ban on disclosure no longer worked.

Individually, it was Cha Eugene who was mentioned a lot, but as a team, the <Moon Rabbit> team was overwhelming.

– Why did you put that in the opening? I felt sorry for the next team

– There’s a reason why they’re ranked high! They are all so effing handsome

– I bet the internet will flip when they come out on stage??

– Why is Ahyeon being criticized? He’s so damn good

There were a lot of people who tried to suppress the atmosphere somehow, saying that the participants of the <Moon Rabbit> team were manipulating public opinion, but as the audience’s confirmation came up one after another, they secretly disappeared leaving behind abusive remarks.

And here, Park Moondae’s well-known fan account operator was listless all day because neither she nor her acquaintance won the audience application.

She was the same person who secretly hid a camera during the first team match and settled her heart in Park Moondae.

‘Is my network lacking?’

Since he was a survival show participant who had not yet formed a fandom, she refrained from socializing as much as possible with her well-known account, and what came back was a defeat in the information war.

She clicked on the current popular post with trembling hands.

[Went to the audience. (Photo attached) (361)]

: It was my first time doing something like this, so I was excited, but just seeing Moondae’s face was worth it??

Moondae came out in the first team, and he wore a rabbit mask and a hanbok. He looked like a character from a fusion fantasy historical drama. It was so cool that I couldn’t stand it… I secretly took photos??

And the stage broadcast is really bullshit, they’re doing far better on stage, my heart is still pounding??

I don’t know what people see when they say that the kids are not good at singing and dancing.

I will write more detailed impressions below!

……

She read the text one by one, and, unable to resist the fact that they had taken a picture, she scrolled down.

Below it was a picture of Park Moondae’s upper body wearing a rabbit mask and a durumagi.

“Argh!”

The blonde Park Moondae, wearing a navy blue durumagi against a starry black background, was so handsome it made her heart ache.

‘Data… I should buy it.’

She muttered, unable to overcome her sorrow. However, even data sellers usually sell these only after the show was aired because they were afraid of legal problems.

The more she imagined that she could see the trailer of episode 9 at the earliest and episode 10 at the latest, the more her head started spinning.

“…The s, let’s see the s…”

She tried to pull herself together by putting on a new draft that would be posted before the last broadcast.

‘No, but if we use that picture in this ! It would be nice!’

Then she wailed again and logged on to SNS.

Her routine of searching for audience reviews continued until the trailer of episode 9 was released.

* * *

Living in Seon Ahyeon’s house provided a qualitatively different life than living in a one-room apartment.

Of course, there was a problem with the apartment owner and I had to pay compensation for the damaged front door lock.

But that was all. It happened all the time even before I entered Park Moondae’s body, so I didn’t really feel bitter about it.

The important thing was now I could sleep in a moldless room. Also, the soundproofing was good, so I was able to sleep without earplugs.

However, the pleasure of a noise-free environment was not an advantage I could enjoy today.

“I can’t believe you guys were having fun all by yourself!”

Because Keun Sejin came to play.

Keun Sejin, who talked about watching episode 9 together in the same age group chat, rushed forward when he heard that I was being taken care of in Seon Ahyeon’s house and broke in this morning.

“W-Welcome!”

Seon Ahyeon just looked happy. Since the landlord was kind, I couldn’t say anything.

Keun Sejin entered the living room with a grin and took out the board game he had brought.

…It seemed he really came here to play earnestly.

Ring.

“Park Moondae, aren’t you going to pick up the call?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

I checked the ringing smartphone on the table.

[Kim Raebin: Hello, hyung. Episode 9 is airing today. If you have time, can we watch it together?]

Hmm, we were on the same team anyway, so it should be fine if he joined here.

He could watch quietly, so even if Keun Sejin was here, it would be okay.

“Raebin wants to watch episode 9 together, should I call him?”

“Oh? I agree~”

“G-Great!”

A unanimous agreement came out right away.

Without much thought, I sent a text message to Kim Raebin explaining the situation.

Then after some time, I got a reply.

[Kim Raebin: I… am also with Cha Eugene, is it okay to watch together?]

“…”

Hey, that’s a bit…