Debut or Die - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 118
The SBC Music Awards had ended.
After that, due to scheduling conflicts, I’d been moving around sleeping in the car all night, but my condition was the best it had been in the past month.
The Manager had been so excited right after the broadcast ended that he’d told me every detail about the current public sentiment.
-Everything completely flipped!
The members’ expressions at that moment were worth seeing.
In any case, after that, everyone seemed to have let go of their tension, and even in the car, I slept soundly.
Thanks to that, even being called to the Company this morning instead of staying at the Dormitory was bearable.
But I had no idea why they’d called me.
‘Well, judging by their expression, it doesn’t seem like anything bad.’
I wondered if they’d scheduled a new personal appearance or something.
And as soon as I entered through the back entrance of the Company building, I could see the reason for the summons.
The small entrance for staff was packed with so many boxes stacked up it looked like it might burst.
All of them were carefully wrapped with ribbons coordinated perfectly—they were gift boxes.
They looked similar to what I’d seen at the Dormitory entrance during my last break, but the scale was much larger.
‘Huh?’
Wait.
One of the employees who was there spoke with a smile.
“Park Moon-dae, your birthday gifts have arrived~”
“…!”
…Ah, that’s right.
Today was December 15th.
Park Moon-dae’s birthday.
‘…I didn’t even realize it.’
With endless schedules and practice repeating endlessly, my sense of dates had disappeared, and I’d completely forgotten.
Recently, I’d deliberately avoided checking SNS, so I hadn’t noticed that way either.
‘…Besides, it wasn’t even my real birthday to begin with.’
No, even before I’d entered Park Moon-dae’s body, I’d rarely made a special fuss about birthdays.
‘At most, I’d just cook something with more expensive ingredients.’
So seeing gift boxes filling two entire walls, my feet naturally froze in place.
All of this came for me?
“It’ll be hard to keep them at the Dormitory… Park Moon-dae’s family home… um.”
The employee trailed off mid-sentence, apparently realizing Park Moon-dae’s family circumstances.
And kindly corrected himself.
“Let’s keep them in the Company Warehouse for now? I’ll send electronics and luxury items to the Dormitory. You can go open them there.”
“…Did the people who brought these say anything special?”
Just looking at it, the packaging styles were different in three or four places, as if they’d been sent separately.
‘It looks like at least one or two teams tried to deliver them directly….’
“Ah, they used a professional delivery service. We got the shipping notice the day before yesterday.”
The employee shrugged.
“And I think they asked me to tell Park Moon-dae that he doesn’t need to post verification… Yes, that’s right.”
“…!”
Only then did I grasp the situation.
‘…They deliberately kept it quiet.’
The day before yesterday, the Internet was ablaze with people nitpicking Testa over the Rookie Award.
If SBC hadn’t launched their full-scale response yesterday, things would undoubtedly still be the same right now.
They must have worried that if I posted verification of receiving such massive fan support in that climate, it might give people another opening to criticize.
‘So they couldn’t even come see me directly because they were being considerate….’
Something felt strange.
It was strange that there were people who cared so deeply and went to such lengths for someone they barely interacted with.
And the fact that person was me… was really… even stranger.
“Aren’t you going to open them? Should we just move them to the Warehouse for now?”
“…Just a moment.”
I finally moved toward the boxes.
Beyond the ribbon tying together brand shopping bags and picture frames made from my photos, I could see boxes uniformly wrapped in the same wrapping paper.
Tags were attached to each wrapping ribbon.
“….”
Countless clothes, electronics, and accessories were visible on each tag.
‘…What do I do.’
I was nearly overwhelmed. I had no idea what criteria to use for deciding which items to bring to the Dormitory first.
‘…Let me start with items that are easy to verify, just three pieces from each wrapping design….’
While I was deliberating, one tag caught my eye.
It was attached to a relatively smaller box compared to the others.
[Message Book]
“….”
I hesitated, then picked up the box and unwrapped it.
A gold-colored hardcover book that looked handmade was revealed.
《Like a Shooting Star Falling Into My Heart》
As I opened the hardcover, edited sentences appeared within an elegant design.
-I knew it the moment I saw the 【To a New World】 stage. That friend is my idol! lol
I always cheer for Park Moon-dae, who does his best and continues to grow. But even if that weren’t the case, it’s okay. I’ll always cheer for Park Moon-dae’s happiness♡
-My star I want to see for a long time
-My insomnia disappeared after meeting Park Moon-dae! Just looking at him brings joy, and just thinking about seeing him makes my heart race… I’ll love you forever
-I’m thankful and sorry to Mundae, who always cares about their fans no matter what they do. Let’s do whatever we want at Mundae. The real thing is fine though!
Between the long passages, restrained sentences stood out. It felt as though refined emotions were breaking through.
Noona still hasn’t forgotten about the Tibetan fox, Moon-dae… I love puppy Moon-dae, but I love Tibetan Moon-dae too.
“Haha.”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
They really were… extraordinary people. It was an almost unbelievable tenderness.
Of course, emotions aren’t eternal. These people use words like ‘always,’ ‘for a long time,’ and ‘forever,’ but I know that as humans, they can’t truly mean such things.
Yet in this moment, the mere knowledge that there were people somewhere thinking of me like this stirred something unbearable within me.
I wanted to do something—anything.
“….”
“Park Moon-dae?”
“…Ah, my apologies.”
I barely snapped back to attention. Then I quickly gathered up several gift boxes.
More than I’d originally planned, actually.
“…Can I take these to the Dormitory?”
“I have a car. No problem.”
My Manager had come along. By now, he was probably drinking something or smoking a cigarette in the Lobby out front.
“Sure… Got it. Have a good night. And happy birthday!”
“Thank you.”
I gathered the gifts in both hands and headed toward the parking lot.
The Manager I ran into on the way was startled.
“You carried all that by yourself?! You should’ve called for help!”
“It’s fine. It’s not far.”
“Geez… Anyway, congrats on the gifts. Happy birthday. Want me to buy you some coffee?”
“Next time.”
“Oh, look at you—not turning me down.”
I just laughed. Maybe I’d lost my mind, but everything felt oddly pleasant.
“Get inside safely~”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I parted ways with my Manager in front of the Dormitory building. Then I gathered the gifts again and headed upstairs.
And the moment I stepped out of the elevator.
A strange smell wafted from in front of the Dormitory door.
“…?”
Was that… a burning smell?
‘No way.’
I stacked the gifts to the side of the Corridor and immediately unlocked the front door.
Then I opened the fire extinguisher cabinet before pushing the door open.
“…?!”
“No, wait!!”
…And there I witnessed Cha Yu-jin and Sun Ah-hyun sprinting through the Living Room with a pot in hand.
Smoke was billowing from the pot.
I asked with difficulty.
“…What are you two doing?”
“P-Park Moon-dae! It’s, it’s nothing serious….”
“Chicken soup for the soul!”
Cha Yu-jin shouted that and bolted back toward the Kitchen with the pot.
An oppressive silence descended upon Sun Ah-hyun, who remained alone in the Living Room.
“….”
“….”
“…H-happy… birthday… C-congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
I appreciated the sentiment, but I really wanted someone to explain what was actually going on.

* * *
“…A birthday gift?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, no… w-we have a separate gift! Th-this is just to say thank you….”
“I have more gifts too.”
Listening to Cha Yu-jin and Sun Ah-hyun ramble on didn’t clarify anything. They didn’t seem to understand each other either.
The other members, who’d been jolted awake by the pot commotion, actually tried to make sense of the situation.
“So basically, it’s your birthday, and since we happened to have time this morning, we thought we’d make you something delicious, right?”
“Yes!”
“…With that many people?”
Bae Sae-jin muttered quietly to himself, and Sun Ah-hyun lowered his head with a dejected expression.
“Th-the recipe was solid… I th-thought we could do it.”
“…A solid recipe, really?”
At Bae Sae-jin’s skeptical question, Cha Yu-jin answered cheerfully.
“It’s my mom’s recipe! Chicken soup!”
“…!”
Bae Sae-jin’s pupils dilated, and he quickly added,
“Th-that is, even with an excellent recipe, beginners might not be able to pull it off.”
“We’ll try again!”
“Wait, sit down.”
I pushed Cha Yu-jin back down as he was about to jump up. And I recalled the pot I’d seen in the Kitchen.
‘…It was completely charred.’
Besides, judging by the state of the cutting board and sink, the cooking process itself must have gone wrong.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say Yu-jin was good at cooking~?”
“I’m good at grilling. Boiling is my first time….”
“Oh dear.”
It was almost comedic. Big Sae-jin clicked his tongue, and when our eyes met, he waved his hand.
“Ah, happy birthday, Moon-dae~ I sent you a gift card?”
“…Chicken?”
“Poultry. Two of them, in fact.”
I’d gotten back exactly what I’d given him in August. A result befitting someone with quick arithmetic.
“Thanks.”
“M-me too! Just a moment…!”
Sun Ah-hyun, who’d been sitting there like a guilty man, suddenly sprang to his feet and thundered toward his room.
Then he brought out a small, well-wrapped gift and handed it to me.
“Happy birthday, Sae!”
“Oh… thanks. Can I open it?”
“Y-yeah!”
Inside was a department store gift certificate.
“….”
This felt like he was collecting some kind of friendship fee.
But Sun Ah-hyun looked proud of himself.
“I-I just didn’t have time to go shopping… S-since you can see it in person and choose what you want!”
“…Yeah, thanks. I’ll have to go when I get a chance.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Next time I go, I should buy something decent for Sun Ah-hyun too. The amount was excessive for either a friend or a coworker.
‘Now that I think about it, I think I gave Big Sae-jin something expensive for his birthday too.’
I should probably tell him at some point that there’s no need for all this.
“Oh, I bought one too.”
While nothing was as unexpected as Sun Ah-hyun’s gift, I ended up receiving presents from a couple more people after that.
Cha Yu-jin gave me a huge container of jelly.
‘He’s definitely going to eat half of it himself.’
It was clearly something he’d ordered and just split from his own.
And surprisingly, Bae Sae-jin turned out to be the type who remembers others’ birthdays—he gave me a hoodie.
“I’ll wear it well. Thank you, hyung.”
“…Yeah, sure.”
That’s how the gift-giving ceremony ended.
Honestly, this was the first time in my life I’d received this many birthday gifts on the actual day.
‘It feels strange.’
I gathered the boxes I’d received from fans and moved them to my room along with the gifts from the members.
“Sorry I couldn’t prepare anything. Let me buy you all dinner next time. What do you want to eat?”
“You don’t need to apologize, and well, let’s just eat whatever we’re in the mood for then.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
As Ryu Chung-woo apologized for not knowing, which was understandable, and I brushed it off with the dinner offer, Kim Rae-bin suddenly shouted with a solemn voice from beside me.
“I’m sorry for not knowing your birthday…!”
“…I said it’s fine.”
“I have a beat I produced recently… if you could use it for your solo song…!”
What do I do if he just suddenly pushes his own song on me like this?
…Well, I should at least agree for now.
“Yeah. It sounds like it’ll be a good song. I’ll check it out when I have time.”
“Yes!”
Kim Rae-bin finally seemed to have lifted the weight from his shoulders, letting out a big sigh of relief before stumbling off to his room.
“….”
I’m worried he’s going to get himself into trouble like this—I should probably tell him later not to be so deferential.
I arranged the boxes beside the bed and lay down.
After a long while, I turned on my phone’s data. The first message that came through was a notification.
It was a gift from Big Sae-jin.
[Gift from Big Sae-jin]
: Orim Native Fresh Chicken 1.5kg
“….”
And a little while later, Keun Se-jin’s chat message arrived, plastered with ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’.
‘This bastard really.’
I reflexively typed out my genuine response.
[Want to die?]
An immediate reply came back.
Big Sae-jin: Ugh, I hate it.
“….”
I started to jump up from the bed and rush to Big Sae-jin’s room, but I held myself back.
That was exactly the reaction this bastard was hoping for.
Instead, I’d deliver a measured and calculated blow.
[No more photo uploads for you from now on.]
[Big Sae-jin: My apologies]
Yeah, that’s the direct hit.
I shut down my phone and tried to sleep.
As I closed my eyes, the shape of the gift I’d received today and the sentences from the message thread drifted lazily through my mind.
…For some reason, I had a feeling I’d have a pleasant dream during this nap.

* * *
But after that refreshing sleep, an unwelcome piece of news awaited me when I saw the Manager again.
“Moon-dae, you got a phone call.”
“Huh? From who?”
The Manager handed me his smartphone while mouthing the words silently.
‘VTIC’s Chung-ryeo!’
Damn it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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