Debut or Die - Chapter 239

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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 239
A concert where Park Moon-dae invited Testa as a guest.
There was certainly potential for this question to arise.
-Why is Park Moon-dae the host and Testa the guest?
-Park Moon-dae is really pushing them hard lol
However, it never became public opinion.
Park Moon-dae already knew how to avoid controversy in this format.
‘All I need to do is flip the hierarchy.’
[All precious donations from audience members collected during the concert will go entirely to pediatric patients currently hospitalized for extended periods.]
By framing the donation theme around long-term hospitalization, Park Moon-dae naturally became the perfect fit.
‘Since I was hospitalized the longest due to the traffic accident.’
Rather than inserting a charitable concept into Park Moon-dae’s solo concert, people would think ‘Park Moon-dae was chosen as host because he’s the best fit for this concert format.’
Naturally, people came to believe that Park Moon-dae was positioned as the host to emphasize the charitable concert aspect even more.
[Testa Hosts Online Concert for Pediatric Patients]
[“I had much time to reflect during my hospitalization”… Testa’s Meaningful Charity Concert]
And once the press release went out centered on Testa as a group, the entire structure solidified exactly as intended.
-Supporting these admirable young stars ^^
-Testa is truly amazing, I respect you guys bb
-Such positive influence is wonderful~ Well done~
This traditionally well-received form of charity even garnered considerable positive response from older demographics.
It was an excellent signal for audience turnout.
However, as the charity event image became stronger than the concert itself, inevitable criticism of the format naturally followed.
-They must have made a ton of money, but using fans’ money to take credit for it doesn’t sit right with me
“So the fans pay the donation but the donation is made in Testa’s name? Lol, that’s clever.”
The rebuttal was clear and straightforward.
-Testa’s concert makes over 2 billion won in a single day..
└Insane
└Wow that’s crazy
So they’re giving up 2 billion won for this? lol
-They had to cancel their entire tour because of the accident, so the losses must be huge. That’s impressive
Those exam-takers are seriously stupid lol
In a capitalist society, no phrase quantified sacrifice quite like ‘forgoing profits.’
Fans wrote promotional posts about ‘how meaningful this concert is and how much they hope everyone watches it,’ circulating through the Online Community and SNS.
All while being completely overwhelmed with emotion.
-Moon-dae… ah, character promotion doesn’t even work but I really want to scream to the whole world that Moon-dae is an angel
-It was disappointing that he couldn’t meet his fans due to the tour being canceled, so he planned it for free… ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Testa you soft-hearted angels, seriously driving me crazy how are you like this
Fans had been consumed by fear and worry for over two weeks, and then witnessed both the miraculous recovery and the revelation of the company’s misconduct.
On top of a successful comeback and stage performance.
With events flooding in and the upward trajectory, fans were completely immersed in Testa’s situation.
Yet I couldn’t shake my concern.
-Is it really okay for Park Moon-dae to do a concert already? We’ll need to include a lot of pre-recorded segments to manage it properly..
-Even at Testa Con, Park Moon-dae was unsteady during his parts. Honestly, I’m worried he’s pushing himself too hard
-The guys are doing comeback content these days too, and while it’s good, there’s something off about it. Listening to them talk, they all seem obsessively managing their health lately.
└I’m worried they’re being pressured into activities. T1 bastards are probably trying to rehabilitate the group’s image since they’re getting criticized themselves
As a performance-oriented male idol group, Testa had many title tracks characterized by ‘formations’—accompanied by intensely dynamic choreography.
And such songs often formed the centerpiece stages of concerts.
Naturally, fans debated whether Park Moon-dae, fresh from injury recovery, could handle performing such demanding stages consecutively.
But soon public opinion tilted in one direction.
-The concert hasn’t even started yet, so let’s not borrow trouble
└But shouldn’t we say something before it starts so it can be fixed?
└No, why are you trying to modify the set list that the kids made lol?
-Everything they do, you keep dragging up negative stuff. Can’t we just enjoy it? Being a fan is exhausting the way you do it
-It’s been so long since a concert, the guys all seemed excited. Please don’t throw cold water on it…
The vibe is so good, this concert is gonna be a huge hit, so everyone stop with the negativity and just say lol for real lol
It was partly because it had been such a long time since concert content, and public opinion had been exceptionally positive since the announcement. Fans wanted to ride this momentum.
Moreover, so those who’d been worried wouldn’t feel worse, promotional banners featuring the concert format appeared on SNS and elsewhere.
[Talk Concert with Testa 【Following My Heart】]
[♡We’d love your participation♡]
The poster showed seven stool-style chairs on stage bathed in spotlights.
Lol a talk concert
-Wait, is Park Moon-dae hosting?? Is Park Moon-dae the MC??
The donation event vibe suddenly hit different lol
-A talk concert? Isn’t this just like a lecture with performances in between?
└Nah, probably more like they’ll talk a lot and do performances in between? Solo artists do this often
Ah okay, okay.
Since it seemed quite different in character from Testa’s previous concerts, which had focused on intense performances, even those who’d been worried felt somewhat reassured.
And the platform’s audience-drawing strategy didn’t end there.
At the point where people were saying “everything that could be said has been said,” and non-fans weren’t reproducing talk about the Testa concert anymore.
[O-Sung’s Giving!]
[☆For every viewer of Testa’s 【Following My Heart】, donations will pour in!☆]
(※Based on peak concurrent viewers in real-time)
Posts about corporate sponsorships flooded in.
It was exactly one week before the concert.
-Haha, that’s insane!
-Amazingly T1 didn’t try to muscle in
└Don’t jinx it, shh
-Let’s donate 1 million people and 100 million people at the same time~ hahahaha
-Dude that’s cheap, 100 yen per person? At least 500 yen, where’s the big company pride~~~(hint: other companies should join too)
-They’re only counting concurrent viewers? Let’s hit 100 million concurrent and blow them away
A corporate sponsorship that would donate proportional to the number of people watching the Testa Concert.
The vague donation amount and petty fine print even sparked curiosity among netizens.
As a result, promotional posts for the Testa Concert circulated once more across the Internet.
[Free Testa Concert viewing + free donation added lolol]
[Testa Concert drug-fueled ad.jpg]
[☆★Testa Talk☆Concert★☆ Viewing: $$Everyone’s Donation ☜☜100 won per person ※Viewing completely free※ ★Legal opportunity to milk O-Sung★ @Saturday 2 PM]
It was genuinely amusing—even those who weren’t Testa fans joined in.
Moreover, since there was no fault to find with the intention, public opinion remained favorable.
So the remaining question also passed smoothly by.
-But how are they planning to do a talk concert without an audience
-They’re not taking pre-submitted questions?
-Probably just Testa beating their own drums lolol
└lol that might actually be kind of cute?
The concern was how a proper talk concert could happen with no audience at all.
Idols weren’t professional MCs or instructors. One misstep and the result would likely be awkward.
Of course, Park Moon-dae wasn’t a fool, so from the moment he struck a platform deal with Chung-ryeo, he’d been carefully preparing answers to this very problem.
However, at this moment, he was grappling with an entirely different kind of concern.

* * *
“Ten-minute break~”
“Phew!!”
I needed to bulk up, seriously bulk up.
‘My stamina isn’t keeping up.’
I gulped down lukewarm sports drink while catching my breath.
‘…It really is a waste.’
Not being able to use Bacchus meant I was losing roughly four hours of available time.
I could only manage my condition by sleeping during the hours I needed for monitoring, practice, and planning.
Time flew by in an instant.
But without sleep, my stamina faltered and productivity plummeted. It was a vicious cycle.
‘…Should I increase my exercise time?’
I’d built some muscle through anaerobic training, but honestly, it wasn’t at the level I wanted. Back when I was in college….
No, let me think about that after the concert.
If I can just pull off this online concert properly, I should be able to get through the status abnormality within the timeframe, so I’ll have time to think about other things then.
‘The promotion really took off.’
Looking at the Internet momentum right now, it’s looking good.
If worst comes to worst, I could prostrate myself to delay the lawsuit and take a trip to Japan early next year… that should work out.
…And as things progressed exactly as planned, other problems began to catch my eye.
“Break’s over~ back to formation!”
“Yes, sir!”
I watched with a grin as someone slapped Cha Yu-jin on the back.
“….”
I remained crouched in my seat, staring at him.
Big Sae-jin seemed to flinch for a moment, but soon asked again with that same melancholic smile.
“…Ah, do you want to rest a bit more?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Got it~”
He speaks well enough, at least.
But his attitude had definitely changed.
The teasing that used to come right up to the line, the expressions and gestures that would slip out in frustrating situations—all of it had vanished.
In their place was nothing but some kind of reactive robot.
‘It wasn’t this bad when we first met.’
In short, it was unbearably awkward.
Sometimes it felt like he was appeasing me, other times like he was protesting.
And when this started… it was painfully obvious.
-Do you have to say it like that?
-…!
-Don’t be sarcastic. I’m being honest.
Ever since he apologized to me in the Hospital Room after that conversation, he’s been like this constantly.
‘Damn it.’
So I can’t even tell if he’s upset or sorry.
‘And he’s not the type I can just hash it out with.’
It seems like he’ll just stay this way until he feels better, but the problem is that every time a potential conflict arises, we can’t communicate.
-…So these two want to do it regardless of the options. What do you think.
-If you think that way, we can go that way~
-I’m asking what you think. You said earlier we should only do one of the two.
-…Me? Well~ it’s all fine to me? Do whatever’s comfortable for you, comfortable~
Whether he’s backing down first or subtly expressing that just dealing with me is stressful.
Either way, every time this happens, it’s clear something’s off with him too.
A guy who likes pulling situations his way ends up abandoning his choice every single time when he clashes with me.
“…Sigh.”
After the Concert ends… no, I don’t know. There’s no actual conflict between us anyway. If anything, we might end up fighting over nothing.
‘Maybe time really is the best healer.’
“That’s a wrap! Thank you for your hard work~”
“Woohoo!”
“Perfect without a single mistake!”
I finished the choreography for the last song and went through stretches to shake off the pointless thoughts.
I heard a voice from behind.
“…Moon-dae~ is your back okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
…But seeing this, it seems like he does want things to go well between us.
When I turned around, Big Sae-jin’s expression was simply ambiguous—a vague smile.
After standing there for a moment, he grabbed his towel and headed toward the back of the Training Room.
“….”
Damn it, what am I supposed to do about this?
I’d never dealt with interpersonal troubles like this even as a minor, and now I had to face them after three years of civil service exam prep and a second youth?
I sat in a chair in the corner of the Training Room and tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling. There were no answers.
That was when it happened.
“M-Moon-dae.”
“…What?”
“Um… I, I might be saying something unnecessary, but….”
Sun Ah-hyun approached hesitantly and spoke, then suddenly got to the point.
Though he missed the mark a bit.
“Are you… ah, still mad at Sae-jin?”
“…? No.”
If he was mad at me, he’d be the one who was mad.
But Sun Ah-hyun seemed to take my words as a good sign, and he plopped down beside me, earnestly beginning to defend him.
“W-when the traffic accident happened, Sae-jin w-worked really hard….”
“….”
“He t-talked to the Company… and kept visiting the Hospital, discussing surgery… He really worked so hard! He barely ate….”
Sun Ah-hyun’s explanation wasn’t detailed or specific. But the emotions from that time seeped through.
The desperate efforts when ‘Park Moon-dae’ wouldn’t wake up. And the sorrow.
That’s when I realized it.
“W-when Moon-dae woke up, on the way back, Sae-jin cried a lot in the Car too…. E-everyone did, but I think he was that worried about Moon-dae.”
More than I’d thought… these guys had really cared about me.
I was at a loss for words.
“S-so… c-could you maybe think about it in a good way too? I’d like Moon-dae to be at ease….”
“….”
I opened my mouth with difficulty.
“…Okay.”
“…!”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Y-yes!”
Sun Ah-hyun smiled faintly, then staggered up at Cha Yu-jin’s call and went to get his things.
“Hyung! Can I eat this?”
“Huh? W-wait a moment…!”
I sat there for a while longer, and then I finally made a decision.
“…Sigh.”
And that evening.
“Big Sae-jin.”
“Huh?”
I asked Bae Sae-jin for permission and switched rooms with him for a while. He brightened up, packed his things in the Living Room, and moved out.
“…Park Moon-dae?”
“Yeah.”
In other words, that meant Big Sae-jin’s roommate for today was me.

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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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