Debut or Die - Chapter 161

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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 161
Let me think about this honestly and plainly.
‘Bae Sae-jin would naturally want to do dramas.’
After all, he’d started as a child actor and came to Ajusa specifically to continue his acting career.
Besides, anyone could see his acting stats were far superior to his idol-related abilities.
‘Even I would have wavered in his position.’
I casually probed Bae Sae-jin, whose complexion had grown noticeably darker.
“Sounds like the drama offer was pretty appealing.”
“…It’s from a writer I worked with back when I was a child actor. They mentioned there’s a small role available in it.”
Bae Sae-jin muttered this with a somewhat melancholic expression.
“The PD who just approached me apparently knows the drama’s PD. He said the drama’s solid, and T1 is even providing production support….”
“I see.”
At that level, the company definitely would have received the offer, but they’d apparently turned it down with his activities in mind.
‘They probably didn’t want to give any opening now that the Testa tour is starting to take shape.’
Until a downturn hit, the tour would definitely be more profitable anyway.
“…Well, forget it. Everyone says their connections are great anyway.”
Bae Sae-jin spoke as if forcing himself to shake it off, heading toward a nearby trash bin as if to discard the business card.
“Wait a moment.”
“What?”
“Why not discuss it with the company? It’s been over a year since our activities started, so wouldn’t it be fine to at least talk about taking on one light project?”
Bae Sae-jin’s eyes widened.
Honestly, from my perspective, having Bae Sae-jin focus solely on group activities for about three years with no distractions would be ideal.
But human emotions were a variable.
‘If I keep pressing him, he might not even last his contract period and could bolt.’
I could see it clearly—he wanted to do this but kept suppressing it, worried it might cause problems for the team’s activities.
There were limits to what people could endure through reason and social responsibility. No matter how much fun we’d made things, if someone kept doing poorly at something while their true strength lay right in front of them, they’d eventually lose their mind.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to let him do one drama now?’
From what I’d heard, it sounded like a minor supporting role, so this level should be manageable.
Even if we caught some flak, people would just think ‘Oh, since T1 is producing it, they mobilized Testa members for promotion~’ and it would pass without major issue.
Actually, loosening the reins now while the timing aligned perfectly would make it easier for him to seriously pursue acting later. And there’d be less resistance.
I even provided some reasoning to help Bae Sae-jin rationalize it adequately.
“Besides, it’s becoming the atmosphere now where people gradually appear on variety shows individually, and do photo shoots and commercials anyway.”
“….”
But Bae Sae-jin crumpled the business card with a hardened expression and tossed it into the trash bin.
“…!”
“That’s it. My focus would just scatter.”
And he muttered as if making a vow.
“I’m barely keeping up as it is… I don’t have the luxury of worrying about anything else right now.”
The pressure was audible in his voice.
“…The group activities come first.”
“Hyung….”
“…??”
That’s not me.
At the sudden interjection, I turned my head to find Kim Rae-bin gazing at Bae Sae-jin with a melancholic expression.
Seeing a drink in his hand, it seemed Bae Sae-jin and I had stepped away, so he’d picked up our beverages and come searching for us.
‘What’s this guy doing, still wearing a protective brace on his foot.’
It was absurd, yet the person in question remained cheerful.
“Seeing you so devoted to Testa’s activities, hyung, I too wish to recover from my injury quickly and contribute to the team.”
“What, what?! Where did you come from!”
“Ah, please have this!”
Bae Sae-jin’s face flushed red and he startled.
‘It’s over.’
There was no room or atmosphere left for further persuasion.
‘If he looks too disappointed later, I should probably give him some luck or something.’
I shrugged my shoulders, accepted the drink, and followed Kim Rae-bin back toward the group.
Bae Sae-jin was sucking on his own drink with a sullen expression, though he didn’t seem particularly upset.
At least, not yet.
“…So I found hyung and Moon-dae hyung and delivered the drinks.”
“Thanks for the hard work~”
“Still, be careful with walking from now on, Rae-bin. You need to take care during recovery.”
“Understood!”
Inside the car heading back to the Dormitory.
Kim Rae-bin recounted to the members, who asked where he’d gone, the story of how he’d found and brought us back.
Then Cha Yu-jin from the back seat poked Kim Rae-bin’s side repeatedly and asked.
“What were you hyungs doing??”
“Ah, it seemed like Bae Sae-jin hyung was making a commitment about Testa’s future activities….”
“Ah, no!”
Bae Sae-jin in the front seat’s face turned crimson as he hastily denied it.
Kim Rae-bin, unable to comprehend such a violent reaction, tilted his head with slight bewilderment.
“But it certainly seemed like you were rejecting some sort of activity while pledging your dedication to Testa….”
“No! That’s not it… Hey, could you say something….”
“….”
Why was he calling me when he was the one involved?
I reluctantly opened my mouth.
“Hyung received an offer to appear in a drama, but he turned it down. He wanted to focus on our activities.”
“Whoa!”
“Re, really?”
I caught a glimpse of Bae Sae-jin in front letting out a groan and covering his face with both hands.
“You did well, Sae-jin.”
“Try again next time! I like the challenge!”
“I-I’ll work hard too, hyung…!”
The car filled with a warm sense of encouragement and emotion. Bae Sae-jin seemed troubled by complex thoughts, unable to lift his gaze.
‘Good grief.’
I clicked my tongue and grabbed a water bottle. Big Sae-jin casually scrolled through his phone beside me and threw out a comment.
“You must have been so disappointed, but you’re handling it amazingly~”
“….”
Bae Sae-jin in the front seat flinched, then fell silent for a while.
Then, as if without thinking, he tossed out a response.
“That’s not what I think.”
“…!”
It was a rather sharp reply.
A look of absurdity flashed across Big Sae-jin’s face before quickly disappearing.
“Huh? Come on, why would you think that? I was just saying something nice.”
“…I know you’re being sarcastic, but don’t do this. I said I refused.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not being sarcastic… No, wait. Yes. I’m sorry. I won’t say anything like that again. That’s fine, right?”
“If you’re going to keep doing that every time, just say it outright.”
The atmosphere in the car suddenly froze.
‘What the hell is this now.’
Before I could even think, Big Sae-jin lifted his head from his phone beside me.
Big Sae-jin wasn’t even hiding it anymore—he was smirking.
“Say what outright? I’m already speaking clearly.”
“Stop subtly messing with people. You think I don’t notice?”
“So why would I try to mess with you? I don’t even understand why you’re saying this.”
“You two, hold on.”
Bae Sae-jin whipped his head around. His eyes were blazing.
“You’re doing it right now. You think I’m pathetic, don’t you? You think I’m useless but stubborn about my pride. I know it.”
“…!”
“See?”
“I was just speechless because it’s absurd.”
“And then in front of the camera, you act friendly with me only when it benefits you.”
Big Sae-jin’s face was also flushed with anger now.
“So should we fight in front of the camera? Hyung, this isn’t some kids’ game, and every time people….”
Bae Sae-jin slammed his armrest.
“I! Take this seriously. You’re the one acting like it’s a joke.”
“What?”
The atmosphere had escalated to a point where it seemed only the fact that we were in a car prevented this from turning into a fistfight.
At that moment, Big Sae-jin practically lurched forward, his upper body tensing.
“Who do you think you’re….”
“Hey, stop.”
‘Have I lost my mind.’
I quickly pressed my hand against his chest. The others, who had been caught off guard by the sudden argument, finally came to their senses and began pulling the two of them apart.
“Okay, you two, that’s enough! The driver’s going to have a heart attack!”
“C-calm down, please….”
“How about we head back to the Dormitory and talk this through calmly.”
“We’re in a moving car right now. We could get into an accident!”
“….”
The two glared at each other before silently settling back into their seats.
Of course, the atmosphere remained tense. In the car, now silent as a tomb, I suppressed a sigh.
‘This is driving me insane.’
The friction that had been visible since our debut suddenly erupted over something trivial.
‘So we’ve finally reached the limit of tolerating each other.’
Just thinking about whether there was any way to resolve this gave me a headache.
‘…For now, I’ll mediate a conversation once we get back to the Dormitory.’
It was annoying, but there was no choice. I closed my eyes and waited for our arrival at the Dormitory.
But instead of talking, the moment they entered the Dormitory, both of them quickly retreated to their respective rooms.
To be precise, the instant Bae Sae-jin headed straight to his room, Lee Sae-jin let out a scoff and went into hers.
It wasn’t so much avoidance as it was… they were both clearly furious.
‘Damn it.’
There was no solution.
“….”
The rest of the Testa members sitting in the Living Room stared silently at the Television screen.
Of all times, an annoying commercial came on.
[A warm touch, like a warm heart]
[Meet the future guide dogs of Osung Guide Dog Academy!]
It was the commercial I’d filmed with Chung-ryeo. In the bright, filtered outdoor Grass Field, yellow dogs bounded out and hung from my head in repeated cuts. My face looked pretty stupid.
“Oh, Moon-dae hyung.”
“The puppies are so cute….”
Cha Yu-jin’s voice as he spoke about the dogs sounded less energetic than usual. Actually, it wasn’t just Cha Yu-jin—everyone seemed a bit flustered and dazed.
‘This team has been getting along pretty well, all things considered.’
Since our debut, we’d never had a fight this blatant. It was understandable to be shocked.
In stark contrast to the bitter reality of the atmosphere, the screen showed energetic dogs and Chung-ryeo.
[We grew with your love.]
[Thank you! Our people!]
[The people’s insurance – Osung Life Insurance]
That was a mess too. Everything was a mess.
“Sigh.”
A sigh escaped me naturally. I ran my hand through the back of my head and organized my thoughts.
Let me think.
‘First… the timing was just bad.’
Bae Sae-jin had made the difficult decision to turn down the drama, so his emotions probably hadn’t settled yet.
He’d always been sensitive. It seemed he’d been quietly accumulating stress from Big Sae-jin’s subtle remarks over time, and this time he simply couldn’t hold back—it had gotten under his skin.
‘Big Sae-jin is the type obsessed with career achievement anyway.’
Unlike me, he doesn’t have any abnormal condition, yet he’s the type to be hypersensitive about performance metrics.
So it was obvious he didn’t approve of Bae Sae-jin, who had inferior abilities and poor social skills despite being stubborn among the team members.
Which meant he probably thought the guy he’d been ‘tolerating’ was the one acting out.
‘And above all… they just don’t mesh.’
They’re guys with virtually nothing in common besides working hard. There’s no affection between them, and it’s clear they can’t understand each other’s actions.
I pressed my temples.
Honestly, I’d rather just leave them to handle things well when the cameras are rolling…
‘But I should probably try something.’
…I received consideration from Ryu Chung-woo back then, after all.
I let out a weary sigh and stood up from the sofa, heading toward the kitchen.
“Moon-dae.”
“Hyung.”
Ryu Chung-woo followed quietly and gave a bitter smile.
“I’ll go talk to Sae-jin—Lee Sae-jin, that is… Would you go talk to Bae Sae-jin? The two of you need to have a conversation.”
“Hmm.”
It seemed like a distribution that took into account the fact that I was currently roommates with Bae Sae-jin.
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head.
“I think it would be better if I go talk to Lee Sae-jin.”
“Yeah?”
Yes. Looking back, there’s something weighing on my mind, and I’m the only one on the team who knows about it.
Ryu Chung-woo nodded readily.
“Right. Being the same age might work better.”
“Yes.”
“Then… let’s do our best.”
Ryu Chung-woo patted my shoulder and left the kitchen. I turned and opened the refrigerator.
‘Alcohol would probably backfire.’
I should grab some cold water instead.
I grabbed two bottles of water in one hand and headed to Lee Sae-jin’s door.
Knock, knock.
“It’s me.”
…
After a moment, the door opened with a small sigh.

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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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