Debut or Die - Chapter 240

—————

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

—————

A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 240
Big Sae-jin seemed momentarily flustered, but quickly shifted his expression and smirked.
“Oh, looking for something?”
“No. I switched rooms with Bae Sae-jin hyung.”
“…Switched rooms?”
“Yeah, just for tonight.”
I immediately settled onto Bae Sae-jin’s bed across from him.
“Let’s talk for a bit.”
….
A brief tension flickered across Big Sae-jin’s movements.
But his words came out smoothly enough.
“…Um, what about?”
The words ‘It’s your attitude lately, you bastard’ climbed all the way to my throat, but I held them back.
‘If I’m not trying to fight, I shouldn’t talk like that.’
Instead, I interlaced my fingers and sat calmly, speaking what needed to be said first.
“First of all… thank you.”
“…!”
“I heard you had a rough time while I was unconscious. That you dealt with both the company and the hospital.”
I continued matter-of-factly.
“It seems like we didn’t get a chance to talk about it separately, so I figured now was the right time. Thank you for looking out for me.”
….
He looked like he’d just taken a punch.
“And thank you for worrying about me too… Are you crying?”
“Huh? Oh, no…, yes.”
Big Sae-jin’s eyes were reddened as he blurted out shamelessly.
“I’m just moved, that’s all~!”
…It seemed closer to relief than emotion.
‘That’s not the reaction I expected… but.’
So this guy had also been going through his own emotional turmoil these past few days.
He laughed a bit less formally now, embarrassed but with the tension finally easing.
“Ah~ this is kind of embarrassing?”
Good, his heart’s eased up a bit. I crossed my arms.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But anyway….”
Now I had something I needed to hear.
“Is there something you’re upset with me about?”
“…What?”
“It feels like it’s been a while since every time I say something, all I hear from you is ‘You’re right about everything~’ before moving on.”
….
I tapped my fingers on the edge of the bed.
Seeing the tension snap back into his face wasn’t great, but it was better to address it now than to sweep it under the rug and have it explode later.
“Let’s clear this up while we have the chance. If you felt wronged about accepting my apology one-sidedly when we talked about the Concert….”
“You felt wronged about that?”
“…!”
“…No, I think… I was just short-sighted back then. I guess I was just being careful with my words~”
That doesn’t seem right.
This bastard just got heated and stabbed at me aggressively before backpedaling.
I said what I was thinking.
“That doesn’t seem right.”
“…!”
“I get that you want to move past this smoothly, but if you keep holding back and not sharing your thoughts, it’ll become a long-term problem.”
I held back a sigh.
“So, I’m apologizing for planning a solo Concert without warning when the team situation was already bad….”
“That’s not it.”
Big Sae-jin clenched his teeth. And finally, unable to hold back, his expression hardened.
“Park Moon-dae, do you think I’m some kind of sociopath?”
“…!”
“You think I was upset about you doing a solo Concert? That it was a problem for the team?”
“….”
…Wasn’t it?
Big Sae-jin took several deep breaths as if calming himself, then steadied his voice.
“Did you never think that I was worried you’d overexert yourself when you’d just come out of a coma?”
“…I did consider that might be part of it.”
“You considered it, but you still thought I was annoyed because I was worried it would cause problems for the team, right? Wasn’t that it?”
“….”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak this directly before.
Big Sae-jin seemed to have found his momentum, now almost pouring out his words.
“You always do this. Every time something happens—an injury, a scandal. Yeah, I’ve staked my life on this. Yes, I want to do well. But I… I worry about my friends too.”
“….”
“Aren’t we friends? You… honestly, I don’t know. I really thought I’d be fine not working with you as long as you woke up.”
“…!”
“But you barely wake up, and then you say something unnecessary like that…. I was already…,”
Big Sae-jin’s voice cracked and he stopped. After listening to him in silence, I finally understood why he’d acted that way.
He was just scared.
His close friend had nearly died, and they’d even fought on top of that, so he was just trying to be careful.
‘He’d been taking his own slip of the tongue… absurdly seriously.’
And he considered himself that close to Park Moon-dae.
“….”
I realized something anew.
Lee Sae-jin is still in his early twenties. The age when people are usually fooling around at university.
Because he usually had such solid support, I’d unconsciously judged him more strictly than others. As if he were my own peer in the workplace.
I kept trying to analyze this guy’s actions through nothing but career advancement and personal gain.
‘That was my mistake.’
It was rather harsh of me, wasn’t it?
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
And I spoke seriously.
“I get it. You were trying to be considerate, but I was so caught up in worry that I took it the wrong way. I’m sorry.”
“…No.”
“Yes, I was. And… you’re my friend. I’ve never thought otherwise.”
“…!”
I recalled my status window and all the unresolved questions that still lingered.
“It’s just that I… didn’t have enough composure, and I was too desperate for immediate results.”
“….”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t about the solo concert—I’m apologizing for hurting your feelings.”
Big Sae-jin nodded silently, but I could see tears dripping onto the blanket on his bed.
Still, the air in the room felt considerably lighter.
“…Sigh.”
I sprawled out on Bae Sae-jin’s bed. If the bed’s owner saw this, he’d have a fit.
And I thought to myself.
‘This is like something out of a manga….’
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d end up crying and proving my friendship with this guy. You really do see everything if you live long enough.
It was embarrassing. But it wasn’t meaningless.
“….”
Though a bit awkward, we sat in silence for a while in the now-peaceful atmosphere of the room.
And shortly after, once we’d finally calmed down, Big Sae-jin deliberately broke the silence with a cheerful voice.
“Ugh, this is so embarrassing now.”
“I’m the one who should be embarrassed, crying in someone else’s room.”
“Hey, forget it. I was the one crying!”
Big Sae-jin grinned. He had all the makings of a troublemaker.
“But Moon-dae.”
“What?”
“…Why are you always so tense?”
“….”
“I know I’m not one to talk, but we’ve already passed the point where we need to worry about results. Can’t we just take things slower? …You’re planning to keep this group going in five years anyway.”
“…I want to.”
Now I could admit it easily.
But at the same time, I thought of reality.
“But I don’t know how things will turn out. Just because I want to do this now doesn’t mean I’ll be able to then. There are… too many variables in this world.”
“….”
“That’s why I’m trying to do everything I can now, so that we can still do this in five years.”
…Excluding the details coated in unrealistic elements, it was the clean truth.
A brief sigh and hollow laugh escaped from Big Sae-jin.
…A hollow laugh?
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae, are you seriously with the National Intelligence Service?”
“…??”
“No, you just sound way too much like a spy~”
Why was he suddenly dragging up this dead topic again?
I gave him a look of utter disbelief, and Big Sae-jin burst into giggles.
“You said you have amnesia, but sometimes you talk about old stuff in crazy detail, right?”
“…!”
“And the thing is, the dates don’t quite line up~?”
“…!!”
…Now that I think about it, for the past two and a half years, nobody had specifically asked about Park Moon-dae’s past, so I’d forgotten.
Which means… I must occasionally slip up and speak from Ryu Gun-woo’s perspective instead.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
‘Damn it.’
But Big Sae-jin didn’t press further. Instead, he flopped down on his own bed.
“Well~ everyone’s got their secrets and all that.”
“….”
“Still… if you feel like it, tell me. Sae-jin’s pretty tight-lipped, you know? It’s rare to find a friend like that~”
I stared at the guy lying on the opposite bed.
With his personality, he’d never even consider things like status windows or restarts. At most, he’d assume I was just lying about my real age.
‘Still…’
Still, somehow my heart felt a little lighter.
I let out a quiet laugh.
“Yeah.”
“…!”
“I’ll tell you when I can.”
Once all this status abnormality business is over, maybe someday I’ll have a chance to sit down over drinks for two or three days and tell him everything properly.
…And maybe it’ll work out.
I added it like a joke.
“…Just bear with me until then. I’m counting on you.”
“….”
Big Sae-jin fell silent for a moment, as if wrestling with complicated thoughts.
Then he answered slowly.
“National Intelligence Service business?”
“Yeah.”
“Ha ha! Okay~”
He was joking around with a grin, but I could tell he was trying to wrap things up without making it awkward.
“Oh, Moon-dae, Moon-dae, it’s already midnight~ we need to get to bed early if we’re practicing tomorrow!”
“Got it.”
I shook my head and stood up to turn off the light.
“Oh~ taking the initiative to turn off the lights? My temporary roommate is so cool~”
“Just get some sleep.”
“Okay.”
My namesake roommate’s room fell dark without further comment.
We spent the rest of the night in quiet silence, but I knew that starting tomorrow, things would return to feeling natural between us again.
The only side effect was that Bae Sae-jin returned to the Living Room looking considerably forlorn.
…I should consider switching things up occasionally.
“The outfit is ready~”
“Oh.”
“I-is something like this okay…?”
“Based on your past experiences, I’m certain you’ll love it!”
“That’s right~”
In any case, the Concert preparations proceeded smoothly without a hitch, and before long, the broadcast time was just around the corner.

* * *
The day Park Moon-dae’s talk concert “Following My Heart” with Testa as guest was being broadcast.
The Graduate Student didn’t go to the Lab Room for the first time in a while and instead sat at her desktop at home.
Caught between the sophistry of “there’s a quick-witted doctor but no quick-witted master’s student,” she was contemplating her future when this endorphin rush came at last.
“Ah… this is so good.”
It felt like the first time in forever that I could meet Park Moon-dae with a peaceful heart.
After those hellish eighteen days, seeing him recovered made my emotions so overwhelming that daily life became difficult, but now it seemed I’d finally settled down.
I was simply in high spirits.
‘Since it’s a talk concert, it shouldn’t be too strenuous!’
Most of all, I loved the atmosphere of everyone anticipating it with excitement!
‘Park Moon-dae must be looking forward to it too, right?’
The Graduate Student giggled and exchanged a few excited messages with her friend Home Ma before logging into the platform where the Concert would be streamed.
‘I need to sign up to leave real-time comments!’
It was a somewhat unfamiliar platform—less mainstream—but the interface was user-friendly and they seemed to do good work, so she had no reservations about signing up.
No, even if she did have reservations, she absolutely wanted to leave a comment on this Concert.
‘I won’t be able to see it, but I still want to cheer him on…!’
I wanted to tell him how grateful I was that he’d recovered, how thankful I was that he’d come back healthy.
‘Wow, I’ve become a total fan!’
The Graduate Student made a sound that would earn a shake of the head from Home Ma, placed her hands on the keyboard, and waited for the Concert to begin.
Soon after, a rainbow line appeared on the black screen as the countdown began.
-3333
-I love Testaㅠㅠ
Damn, there are so many people here.
-charity concert is great~
-3!
-Aaaaaah, Chung-woo’s here!
The comments rushed past in a blur, and soon the screen lit up with a somewhat upbeat classical accompaniment.
Seven chairs rose in the Concert Hall.
It was the exact same scene as the poster.
In other words, Testa hadn’t appeared yet.
-Ooh
-Where’s Testa going
-Not on stage yet?
‘Is this the entrance? Park Moon-dae first? Since Park Moon-dae’s the host??’
The Graduate Student was tapping her knee excitedly as she peered at the screen.
Suddenly, a voice came through.
[Welcome to our audience members at this interactive talk concert.]
“…!”
It was Park Moon-dae.
-It’s Park Moon-dae!
-Just his voice?
-Where will he come out from
“Whoa, so he’s coming out first!”
The Graduate Student quickly posted “Park Moon-dae is the best!” in the comments.
[Before we begin the concert, we need your input for a smooth show.]
Text appeared on the LED screen behind the Concert Hall stage.
[Testa is]
1. Cool
2. Cute
“…??”
The Graduate Student’s eyes went wide as saucers as she stared at the screen.
‘What… is this?’
The live comment section was filling up with question marks and laughter.
Park Moon-dae’s voice continued, still calm and composed.
[Please enter your choice in real-time comments by combining the # button with the number. Your selected number will be counted on the LED screen.]
[Please choose .]
Hearing this, several people quickly typed the corresponding combination in the comment section.
-#1
-#2
The moment those comments went up.
Numbers began to appear next to the text on the actual LED screen.
[Testa is]
1. Cool (25)
2. Cute (31)
It was being reflected in real time.
-What the—!
-Hey, I’m using this for a concert haha.
And so, a twenty-first-century remote talk concert began.

—————

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

—————