Debut or Die

Chapter 80

As a result of all of us, including the production, crouching down and moving near the summer migratory birds with extreme caution, we were finally able to pick up a camera.

But this ‘near’ was… It was a relative concept.

“Oh, here?”

“Of course~ It’s better not to approach it any further.”

It was a distance where the bird could not be seen properly with the naked eye.

Ryu Chungwoo, who was looking at the camera from next to me, muttered awkwardly.

“Um, I’d rather shoot the bird…”

“…?”

It was an idea that only a gold archery medalist would do.

In the meantime, Cha Eugene, who had been touching the camera noisily from the side, pressed the shutter hard.

‘…I think it’s not even focused.’

I didn’t know. It was already a mess. I sighed and picked up the camera I had received.

‘This reminds me of the old days.’

I didn’t have money, so I rented club equipment to take pictures. After making some money, I received cheap used equipment from my graduating senior in the club.

I fiddled around with the low-end camera and set the exposure value.

‘Where… if you pull it up a bit.’

The control and resolution were not so bad. There were a few cuts that could be roughly used.

It was a small blue bird with a white belly. It was throwing branches with its beak as if to show that it had a violent personality.

…But I didn’t know what species that bird was.

‘Matching a camera model would be easier.’

With a sigh, I approached the bird researcher and asked quietly.

“I think I took it, but I don’t know what species it is.”

“…?! A-Aha~ Is that so?”

The bird researcher’s eyes widened, and soon he complimented me, saying that I was fast.

‘…I think this guy freaked out just now?’

But before I could think of anything else, the others stepped in.

“Oh~ As expected, Moondae!”

“I want to see it too.”

“H-How is it?”

When I handed over the camera to the people who were gathering and talking quietly, they began to admire it with excitement.

“I-It came out well. I-It’s cute.”

“As expected, Moondae is talented.”

“It’s cool!”

“Sir, what bird is this?”

The bird researcher raised his index finger.

“…Figuring that out is your goal today, my friends!”

“Aha!”

“After taking pictures of the migratory birds, we will have time to look at the photos and find out~ Now, let’s move again~”

“Yes?”

“We don’t have much time, so let’s take pictures of various migratory birds in various places!”

“Yes…”

And then the forced march started again.

‘Looks like it’s ruined.’

I couldn’t find joy in this atmosphere even if I washed my eyes and searched for it. I sighed and got up from my seat. Seon Ahyeon, who was still looking into my photo, hurriedly returned the camera.

“H-Here.”

“Um.”

As I took the camera, I took a picture of Seon Ahyeon without much thought.

“…!”

“I think it came out well.”

Seon Ahyeon certainly received natural light well. I would have to pick it out and upload it on social media later.

“M-Me too…”

“Thanks, but I am okay. Let’s move.”

“H-Hn…”

I was starting to feel sleepy again. It seemed it was because the expectation I had for the filming were all gone.

‘Is this the end of the walk?’

…Was it that thought that caused all the problems?

“Then… I think it would be okay to get closer to the bird over there. Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Five seconds after approaching the big white bird on the shore at the instruction of the bird researcher.

Suddenly, the bird flapped and rushed with a shriek.

“…!?”

“Oooh.”

“H-Hold on!”

Literally, we were scattered in an instant to avoid the bird who was chasing us like crazy.

The bird began to chase after Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin, who were the closest.

‘F*ck”

What kind of mess is this?

“Sir! What should I do!?”

“HELP!!”

“No, usually birds are very wary, so this is rare… How amazing!”

“Aaaaa!!”

Cha Eugene rolled away from the bird looking like he almost cried. There was nothing more hellish than this.

And I realized the situation.

The bird… was running?

“…”

I approached the ‘bird researcher’ and talked to him.

“…Is this fake?”

“Yes?”

“That’s not a bird.”

At that moment, the big bird that attacked Cha Eugene shouted.

“Got you!”

“…!!”

At that moment, the bird’s head snapped, and a human face popped out from within.

“Hee!!”

The mask was realistic, so it was kind of gross. Cha Eugene’s reaction was completely understandable.

“Tada! This is <Working Man>, Kwak Jungwon’s prank show!”

“Huh…”

Cha Eugene melted down on the ground.

The woman wearing a new mask shouted in surprise.

“Aigoo, what should I do!”

* * *

After a while, I moved to a cafe near the reservoir under the guidance of the smiling production team.

The MC apologized as soon as she sat down.

‘This is the show’s common rule.’

“No, they seemed the most fearless, so I chased them… I’m sorry, you both seemed so surprised.”

“…It’s okay…”

“It was scary.”

Kim Raebin received the apology with a bewildered expression, but Cha Eugene still sat as far away from the MC as possible and hid behind the members.

I just wish you stopped pulling my clothes. I was choking.

‘You watched horror movies well.’

As expected, it seemed his experience was another story.

In any case, the MC seemed to think the situation was settled enough, so she brought out the filming.

“As you may have realized by now, our <Working Man> is actually a full-fledged surprise camera broadcast~”

“Aah…”

The MC laughed as she watched Testar clapping with groans.

“T-Then the first episode is…?”

“We even tricked the viewers through the preview episode! Actually, <Working Man> is just an abbreviation, and the original title is… <Man who only needs to say it once>!”

(TL notes: ‘Man who only needs to say it once’ = the actual Korean words are slang referring to when someone says a joke and then the joke is repeated again to the point it stops being funny. You say this slang when you tell them to stop repeating the joke.)

“…?!”

Seon Ahyeon opened his mouth wide. And I almost bit my tongue, too.

‘I think I’ve heard of that name.’

I didn’t expect to be the first cast member to be fooled by the name change.

“Now, how does it feel to experience the true title of <Working Man>, <Man who only needs to say it once> for the first time?”

In an instant, words came out like a flood.

“That banner! You made it like that on purpose!”

“I was wondering why I had to walk so much!”

“We didn’t even need to squat walk, right?”

“Ahaha! It’s all right~ It’s all right~”

The MC laughed and happily drank coffee. I sighed and added a word.

“Was the bird researcher fake, too?”

“Of course! He’s a great actor.”

“That’s why it was weird! He kept talking about Korean crow-tits!”

Everyone, including the production team, burst into laughter at Keun Sejin’s words.

“No, in the first place, this is where you take pictures of migratory birds in the winter~ You don’t have to come all the way here to take pictures of migratory birds in the summer. They live by spreading. In Gyeonggi-do, too!”

“Ah…”

It was the first time I saw Ryu Chungwoo suffer from embarrassment so openly like that.

I sipped my drink in silence. If I didn’t, I thought I’d be like that too.

Fortunately, the agency was no fool, the MC continued to chat for quite some time about the album and Testar’s activities afterward.

Although Ryu Chungwoo was suffering, he answered sincerely for publicity.

‘I’m glad I’m not the leader.’

As expected, I had to avoid the high position that only had responsibilities.

Anyway, after that small talk, we were able to shoot one of the title tracks.

Receiving applause from the staff after performing at a rural cafe was a unique experience in its own way.

“Oh, my God, it was so cool! As expected, you passed the audition!”

“Whoa, thank you!”

The MC smiled brightly as she watched Testar bowing their head in all directions.

“Thank you for starting today’s show in a fun way!”

“We really appreciate it!”

“It was fun!”

The ending was heartwarming. It was a variety show, so they couldn’t not end it on a warm note.

At the last minute, Cha Eugene also came to his senses and nodded.

“I’m scared of birds.”

“Hahaha!”

The MC must have thought it was a joke and laughed, but Cha Eugene must have been sincere.

‘Well… It won’t get caught so it doesn’t matter.’

He was not the kind of guy who would notice what I was trying to say.

Then, the MC received a signal from the production team and continued to talk, slapping her palms.

“Now, everyone! We’ll give you the daily wages we were supposed to give you~”

“Yes?”

“Expensive lunch! I brought as much as everyone’s daily wages~”

“…Ooh!!”

“Heol!”

Grill plates and Korean beef appeared.

All the bad feelings were washed away. It was the power of beef.

“Eat a lot!”

“T-Thank you!”

The members sat in front of the beef with puzzled expressions. There was still a sense of doubt about whether or not this was also another prank.

But nothing happened, and the Korean beef sirloin steak was the most delicious thing I’d had in the past half a year.

‘…This is fine.’

Considering that I even received an appearance fee, it was a profitable schedule.

‘Though, it might be different for Cha Eugene who got a direct hit.’

But shortly afterward, Cha Eugene whispered.

“She’s a good person.”

“…Right.”

As I responded to the sincere words of Cha Eugene who was satisfied, I didn’t have a clue what kind of entertainment all these skits would consist of…

‘…I don’t know.’

It was fine as long as I didn’t get cursed at. I took the meat into my mouth.

At the front, the manager was signaling to the members to please stop eating, but no one except Seon Ahyeon cared.

* * *

And then, on a Sunday afternoon.

The second week of Testar’s music show was over.

Fans were delighted to see that costumes that didn’t appear in the MV were appearing on music shows and events.

– The light pink summer uniform in Music Night is a legend… (screenshot)

– See the power of the black baseball uniform that pierces the valkyrie and quickly become a fan of Testar. If you become a fan now, you can become a fan without having to buy stocks (video)

– Testar’s Park Moondae 2X0630 Oseong Event (photo) he was wearing Oseong Bears baseball uniform?? He also got number 11 on his back too!

Complaints that the agency was bad at their job broke out sporadically, but overall, it was a fun atmosphere to enjoy content-rich activities without major incidents.

However, there were many people who were thirsty for entertainment.

– Reality show is good but I hope they can come out on some large-scale variety shows as well

– I want to see them being cute on a talk show…

– All of our kids have characters, so they’re great when they appear, but why isn’t there any news?

In this situation, the news of ‘Testar’ appearing in an entertainment program that no one had ever heard of before was spread through articles.

[National stock Testa, their first variety show is TVC’s new <Working Man>]

[Who’s the first guest of <Working Man>? <Idol Inc.>’s Testar.]

– ??

– What kind of variety show is this?

– Is it misinformation?

– A new work?

However, SNS was soon filled with the anger of the people who came to see the first episode, which had a preview on WeTube.

– ????? T1 is trying to use our kids to promote their nonsense program.

– Episode 1 is no f*cking fun. Are you crazy?

– It’s already rumored to be a failure among those who watch entertainment shows??

– This really can’t work… Sigh…

Of course, it didn’t last long. Because if they lamented it openly, they would unnecessarily feed the agro.

Therefore, there were a lot of lamentations that couldn’t be searched right below the surface, and this kind of reaction had become a trend in the article’s comments.

– Wow! Testar will come out and make this program a hit!

– Testar, I’ll finally see you on another show, not on a reality show

– Let’s watch it live~

Of course, this was done step by step in case it exploded like an active volcano.

However, before the fans’ anger could subside, the preview of the second episode of <Working Man> appeared that night.

[Preview of <Working Man> Episode 2]

: It’s here! (link)

– Already?

– Isn’t it a Thursday broadcast?

As the bewildered people clicked on the link, this title popped up.

[Sorry! Actually, the name and the first episode were also to fool you! A PRANK show that is serious about fooling <Man who only needs to say it once> The first guest is Testar! Episode 2 preview]

The thumbnail showed the members of Testar who stiffened at the sight of the out-of-world emotional banner.

– ???

– What’s this

– ????????

People were confused but rushed to click play.