Debut or Die - Chapter 188

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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 188
‘Drinking too much,’ he says.
I stared at Bae Sae-jin with an incredulous expression.
“I only had one can.”
I’ve never drunk to the point of getting excessively intoxicated when alone.
I’m not an idiot, and with schedules every day, there’s no way I’d overindulge. Especially when tomorrow is the final Seoul concert.
Yet Bae Sae-jin responded with a tense face.
“…Drinking while bathing is dangerous. And it’s not just about today—you drink way too often.”
“I only had one today to lift my spirits. I don’t normally drink like this. It’s not that frequent….”
“No, you drink all the time!”
Bae Sae-jin suddenly raised his voice. Then, startled by his own outburst, he glanced nervously toward the other room.
‘What’s he doing.’
As I watched him with a displeased expression, Bae Sae-jin lowered his voice slightly and continued.
“You drank a few days ago. You drank last week too.”
“That was also just one can.”
“The amount isn’t the issue. …Why did you drink then.”
“Well, to relieve stress….”
Bae Sae-jin clenched his fists tightly.
“That’s exactly it—you’re drinking every three or four days under the guise of stress relief!”
“…!”
“You’ve been doing this constantly lately.”
Bae Sae-jin lowered his gaze.
“…Ever since you came back from America.”
“….”
It felt like I’d been hit in the back of the head.
“While sharing a room, I saw it way too often.”
As I listened to Bae Sae-jin’s testimony, my mind began calculating.
‘I’m drinking once every three or four days.’
He was right.
Bae Sae-jin was correct. Twice a week. Almost once every three days.
There are more days I don’t drink than days I do, and I didn’t notice because I drank so casually without thinking.
In other words, I’m habitually drinking each time as a form of ‘stress relief.’
“I, I did some calculations, and it seemed like you drank less frequently when you were in counseling. But… after you got hurt during vacation, you started drinking often again.”
“….”
“And whenever someone touches your drink, you seem upset, but you’re happy when offered alcohol… From what I can see, it looks like you’re becoming too dependent on it.”
Dependent.
Now that I think about it, I’ve been accepting drinking beer during breaks whenever something stressful happens far too naturally.
‘It’s worse than before I entered Park Moon-dae’s body.’
There’s no helping it.
‘It’s cost-effective.’
No matter how I considered the time, effort, and cost involved, I couldn’t help but instinctively understand that there was no easier method than this.
“You could try relieving stress in a different way, you know. Like, Sun Ah-hyun does embroidery and things like that….”
I looked at the empty can in my hand before answering.
“…You’re right.”
“…!”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Y-yes, that’s good!”
Bae Sae-jin seemed somewhat surprised, but soon responded with vigor.
‘…I received help.’
I looked at Bae Sae-jin anew.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“Don’t mention it! Well, I, I just happened to notice these things quickly….”
It was probably his family circumstances that influenced this. I nodded in acknowledgment.
“Then I’ll throw this away and get some sleep. Don’t worry—I won’t drink anymore.”
“Right. Get some rest soon. It’s already late anyway. Um, yes, we need to do well at the Concert tomorrow.”
“Of course.”
I threw the can into the Kitchen trash bin.
Then I returned to my Room and lay down on the Bed.
Cha Yu-jin next to me was already lying upside down on his Bed, completely asleep. It looked like he’d fallen asleep eating popcorn.
‘A new hobby….’
I even had to develop a hobby for stress relief.
Still, it seemed like I could now choose without worrying about money. My savings were substantial.
‘Maybe I should buy expensive food.’
Seeing the empty popcorn bag on Cha Yu-jin’s Bed, my thoughts reflexively turned in that direction.
‘If I just control the portions, that might actually be better….’
I briefly considered whether I should eat Korean beef or something, and then I seemed to have fallen asleep.
And the next day.
Before heading out early in the morning to prepare for the Concert, I noticed a change when I casually opened the Refrigerator.
All the beer had vanished.
There was only one suspect I could guess.
“….”
Bae Sae-jin, who had been peering into the Kitchen, avoided my gaze before shouting with considerable audacity.
“W-what! You said you wouldn’t drink it!”
That was true, though.
‘So he really does have dependency symptoms.’
For a moment, I felt annoyed.
I shrugged my shoulders, grabbed carbonated water as planned, and closed the Refrigerator.
“That tastes terrible!”
Ignoring Cha Yu-jin, who was strongly recommending cola instead, I drank the carbonated water.
I recalled last night’s deliberation.
‘A hobby, huh….’
I’d need to have actually created one to talk about it.
Forget it. Let’s just finish this concert properly first.

* * *
“Thank you!”
“We love you! We love you!”
“Take care! See you again!”
Since it was the final Seoul Concert, everyone seemed caught up in the emotion, making the exit remarks drag on.
“SEE YA~”
Cha Yu-jin waved his hand beyond the closing screen and nearly got pinched, but aside from that, it was a satisfying ending.
“You idiot! You’re going to get hurt doing things like that!”
“I’m not an idiot! I’ve got Passion.”
The guy’s bursting with energy. I’ll hear it from Ryu Chung-woo soon enough—he’s equally overflowing with it.
I drank some water and wiped my face and neck with a towel. I could hear the others catching their breath and chattering here and there, still lost in the afterglow.
“Moon-dae, your phone!”
“Yeah.”
We could’ve just gone to the Waiting Room to get them, but they’re handing them out here today.
I nodded at Big Sae-jin, who was receiving the smartphones from a staff member and distributing them.
Soon, as the cheers from above died down and the announcement began, those who’d calmed down started moving from the Backstage.
“Man, didn’t today feel like everything just clicked together perfectly? I mean, the whole concert was great, but~ maybe because it’s the last one?”
“Haha. Could be. It was good for me too.”
“It was… really good!”
“If not for the staff’s overtime and the noise ordinance issues, I found myself wanting to perform one more song.”
I didn’t feel like arguing against what I was hearing as we walked down the Corridor.
‘It really was fun.’
Not a single accident or awkward situation—the performance ran like clockwork.
You could say the best-case scenario played out exactly as planned.
Even the impromptu performance during the talk segment went that way. A bit of luck and coincidence aligned to create something entertaining.
‘They all ended up getting the penalty.’
Because of that, the winners didn’t get their stage, so we did an encore instead.
Looks like the fans were openly conspiring to make them get penalized, and they seem pretty pleased about it.
“How was it for you, Moon-dae?”
“It was good.”
“Oh~ of course, today you had those chicken-drop tears again… cough.”
They all cry their eyes out but always manage to talk smoothly about it.
Passing Big Sae-jin with a towel draped over his face, I continued walking when the Manager approached from the opposite end of the Corridor.
“Um, ahem, Moon-dae!”
“…? Yes.”
“Can we talk for a moment? Just briefly!”
“Yes, of course.”
It was almost certainly about the Company.
I’d been too preoccupied with thoughts of drinking and the Concert to remember, but right now the Company was in crisis mode over the ‘Ajusa Season 4 Testa Concert Appearance Incident.’
It might even be getting added to Wikipedia under the ‘Controversies and Incidents’ section soon.
‘Though I have no idea why they specifically picked me.’
Maybe they mistakenly thought I had a knack for picking up on various details because of the industrial espionage incident.
I shrugged at the others and nodded respectfully before following my Manager.
The Manager led me to the restricted-access staff Parking Lot and handed me an iced Americano.
“Here, why don’t you drink this for now?”
“Sure.”
I sipped the drink while contemplating the utility of beverage consumption as a hobby, waiting for the Manager to get to the point.
But the guy didn’t open his mouth until the Americano was completely gone, leaving only ice.
“…?”
Watching him stand there awkwardly, pretending to look at his smartphone for no reason, I finally spoke first.
“What’s this about, hyung?”
“…Ah~ Um. Moon-dae. You haven’t been having any worries lately?”
What was he suddenly talking about?
‘Since when did the Company care about that?’
I answered reluctantly.
“Nothing special, really. Why do you ask?”
“Ah~ Um um, ah, counseling! You don’t want to try counseling again?”
“….”
I frowned, then let out a small laugh.
“Why? Did the members say I need counseling?”
“…! Uh, that’s not it~ It’s just that you’ve been looking stressed lately!”
Yeah, right.
‘From his attitude, someone definitely said something to him.’
And if he wanted to use that as an excuse, he should have brought it up when I was hospitalized.
I shook my head.
“I’m fine. It’ll be hard to do counseling once the tour starts anyway.”
“Um, that’s true. That… um, yeah. Still, if you need anything, make sure to tell me!”
“Yes.”
“….”
“….”
Was that really all?
“Is there anything else you wanted to say?”
“Um… yeah, yeah! Should we head back in? Keep fighting, Moon-dae!”
“Yes.”
I was seeing all kinds of ridiculous things.
I gave him a scrutinizing look, but soon let it go.
‘The Entertainment Company pulling nonsense isn’t exactly a new occurrence.’
Well, I figured they’d at least make some token gesture of damage control if they heard about it anywhere.
I returned to the Waiting Room with my silent Manager in tow, and reached for my smartphone.
‘I should probably post some kind of impression.’
I opened the camera app on the screen as I walked, then switched to selfie mode.
‘I’ve gotten decent enough at this by now.’
Of course, my skills weren’t so lacking that the focus would blur just from walking.
Alright, let me level the frame.
Click. A decent photo saved with a soft shutter sound.
‘Not bad.’
Let me post this. I nodded to myself inwardly and began composing the text.
========================
Hello, Reviewer
The Concert was truly enjoyable. I can’t believe how four days flew by
========================
‘Ah, I forgot the introduction.’
As I stopped mid-sentence and added “I’m Park Moon-dae” at the beginning, something suddenly bothered me.
‘Hmm, a group shot would work better than posting alone.’
Since it’s a Concert, that would resonate more. Plus, it would prevent unnecessary comparisons between members or any petty snark.
‘Let me take a shot right when I enter the Waiting Room.’
The Waiting Room door was just ahead.
I knocked out of habit and opened the door.
…But suddenly, something glittering burst into view, blocking my sight.
Pop-pop-bang! Pop-pop-pop-bang!!
Event confetti similar to the pollen I’d seen on Stage just moments ago.
“…??”
When I came to my senses, I was covered in some kind of shimmering string.
Too stunned to speak, figures wearing colorful party hats suddenly appeared before my eyes.
And in the hands of the two at the front… was a cake.
Whether it was chocolate or dark brown, a dog decoration was messily plastered on top.
The message read… ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’.
“Happy birthday!”
“Happy birthday!”
“…!!”
Birthday?
I suddenly began calculating the date in my head… and was taken aback.
December 8th.
My birthday.
In other words… not Park Moon-dae’s birthday, but mine.
The day Ryu Gun-woo was born.
“How did you know…?”
I don’t even know what I’m saying right now. I was about to spout something useless when I quickly stopped myself.
But my mind still isn’t working properly.
What on earth is happening?
“Haha!”
Big Sae-jin burst out laughing at my expression and patted my shoulder.
“Hey, you didn’t forget, did you? Your birthday is next week!”
“B-but you said we’d be on a plane then… so I thought it would be nice if we could celebrate on the same day…!”
“…”
Ah, that’s right.
‘Of course. There’s no way I could have known.’
Cold sweat breaks out all over me. Now I’m starting to understand.
…But I still don’t know why they chose this particular day.
Like we all received a penalty and took the stage on the spot… did it happen by coincidence and luck overlapping?
“Yeah. And it’s also the last day of the Concert!”
Ryu Chung-woo added with a smile.
“Moon-dae loves the Concert so much anyway.”
“…”
“We prepared really hard! A birthday cake! Rae-bin and I made it!”
“Eugene has no talent for this. Strictly speaking, it’s as if I made it myself.”
“No way! I’m good at drawing!”
The two youngest ones earnestly insisted on their claims to take charge of the cake decoration.
Big Sae-jin chuckled.
“Anyway, he really looks surprised, doesn’t he? The surprise was a huge success!”
“S-success…!”
‘Good grief.’
When I caught sight of the Manager, who had slipped to the side and was watching with a pleased expression, I immediately understood his involvement.
“So all that nonsense I said earlier…”
“Hey, these guys asked me to buy some time~ What could I do! Your hyung just said what he was told to say, Moon-dae!”
“…”
The Manager showed me his smartphone.
The screen displayed a group chat full of messages like ‘talk about something’, ‘we need to buy more time’.
By the way, the chat room name was 【Tibet Moon-dae’s Surprise Birthday Bash】.
I could tell whose naming sense that was without even looking.
As I watched Big Sae-jin giggling, he reduced his laughter and spoke seriously.
“Anyway, happy birthday for real!”
“Happy birthday, bro~”
And a mangled birthday song mixing English and Korean filled the Waiting Room.
The staff members present also smiled and sang along.
“…”
Something felt profoundly strange.
‘…No.’
It was good.
Yes. This was something good.

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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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