Debut or Die - Chapter 273

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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 273
Let me piece this together.
Sun Ah-hyun had shown a distinctly negative reaction after watching the current number one video from the new season of Idol Corporation.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, his body going rigid.
-You okay?
-Yeah, I’m fine….
It was practically just him parroting my words back at me.
“….”
I heard excuses later about how “he wasn’t feeling well,” but naturally, I couldn’t believe that.
‘There’s no way a perfectly fine guy suddenly gets worse after watching a ballet video.’
Still, I didn’t press him for answers right then. I already had a suspicion about what was going on.
And I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed something off about Sun Ah-hyun.
“Park Moon-dae, what were you watching earlier?”
“What?”
“In the car earlier.”
“….”
After finishing schedules that day and returning to the Dormitory, Big Sae-jin immediately pressed me for details.
‘Right, he was sitting right behind Sun Ah-hyun.’
He must have overheard our conversation.
I settled onto Bae Sae-jin’s bed—the one he barely used—and answered.
“This season’s number one video from Ajusa.”
“Ah, that contestant….”
Big Sae-jin pretended to know, as if he’d already been monitoring this season, but his expression hardened immediately.
He’d probably reached the same conclusion I had.
“…They did ballet, right?”
“Yeah.”
The background of this season’s number one and Sun Ah-hyun’s were remarkably similar.
And honestly, I’d already nearly confirmed my suspicions.
– Seodam went to court while doing ballet. Did he become a ballerina?
-Chae Seo-dam went to Sehwa Arts Middle School? Seems like they’d know each other and the school had so few students
The Internet was already buzzing with these connections.
They were both graduates of the same arts middle school.
And judging by Sun Ah-hyun’s reaction… this bastard seemed to have played a significant role in whatever trauma Sun Ah-hyun carried.
“Ah… damn it.”
Big Sae-jin was already searching on his own, his complexion shifting.
“No… is this bastard insane? What nerve does he have to show up at an audition?”
“Maybe he just thinks differently.”
Or perhaps he was clever enough to calculate the odds.
I interlaced my fingers.
“There probably won’t be any evidence anyway.”
“There’s testimony, though.”
Big Sae-jin immediately constructed his logic.
“Even I had deepfakes circulating, so why wouldn’t this bastard? And he’s rank one.”
“….”
“It would’ve surfaced from somewhere.”
No.
“By now, it should’ve come out.”
I laid out what I’d investigated.
“The backlash against this guy started from his first stage performance of the theme song. He’s practically in the center position, and he’s currently rank one. On top of that, he got decent screen time on the broadcast too.”
“…If there was something to expose, wouldn’t it have already surfaced?”
“Exactly.”
I tossed my smartphone onto the bed.
“But there’s nothing. Not a single rumor circulating.”
I’d combed through everything from anonymous sites to private accounts, but there wasn’t a single rumor from that angle.
It was clean.
Which meant he hadn’t made any enemies besides Sun Ah-hyun.
“Sigh….”
Big Sae-jin let out a heavy breath.
After a moment of silence, he spoke with difficulty.
“…This is rough.”
“Yeah.”
If we were going to do anything, we should’ve done it before the first broadcast.
By now, this guy had already amassed a substantial fanbase. And it was the kind of aggressive fanbase unique to audition programs.
If school violence allegations against Sun Ah-hyun were exposed right now and this guy got eliminated?
A significant portion of his fans would unleash their fury on Sun Ah-hyun.
I could already see the choice of words forming.
-My talented kid got screwed over because of that stammering loser lol seriously this is why you shouldn’t deal with glass-hearted paranoids
That sort of thing.
And there would definitely be people who doubted or disapproved. In the current situation, the public saw Sun Ah-hyun as a first-tier idol, so he was the stronger party.
‘Venting frustration from an unfortunate school life’ and all that.
-Honestly, if Chae Seo-dam really committed school violence, would he have appeared in the same audition as Sun Ah-hyun?
-Everyone else only has good stories about Chae Seo-dam, but suddenly he’s the only one claiming school violence; am I the only one who finds this suspicious
-Regardless, he’s got so many fans that he knows Chae Seo-dam’s life would be ruined, so that’s why he’s doing this, there’s no evidence anyway… hmm
And in reality, determining right and wrong in these interpersonal controversies was extremely difficult, and public opinion swayed with every circumstantial detail.
I ultimately arrived at an unwelcome conclusion.
“If we expose it now, Sun Ah-hyun will definitely lose out.”
“….”
Big Sae-jin opened his mouth as if to say something, then just closed it. And he gave a bitter smile.
“But if we just leave it alone, Ah-hyun’s going to have a really tough time, isn’t he?”
“….”
“You’re worried about that, Park Moon-dae.”
He was right.
If things continued this way, someone would eventually ask Sun Ah-hyun during a schedule whether we knew each other.
‘Do you two happen to be acquainted?’
‘…It’s not good.’
It really wasn’t good. It wasn’t about whether that bastard succeeded or failed—it was whether Sun Ah-hyun could endure it without batting an eye.
Could he perform on music shows, variety programs, year-end specials, greeting people and making conversation, laughing along without a care?
It was a red flag for his activities.
I pressed my temples.
“This is difficult.”
That’s when it happened.
Click.
“…What are you two doing?”
“Oh.”
Bae Sae-jin entered carefully with his belongings, then hesitated upon seeing the atmosphere in the room.
“No, it’s nothing. We just had something to discuss for a moment.”
“Yes, yes. It’s nothing serious, hyung~”
“…If that’s the case.”
Bae Sae-jin’s eyes were suspicious, but without another word, he simply swapped his books and blankets before slipping out of the room.
“Hmm.”
There was no helping it if he figured it out on his own, but gossiping to the others before Sun Ah-hyun said anything would only destroy his mental state further.
Big Sae-jin stood up and brushed off his hands.
“Moon-dae, let’s think about this a bit more.”
“Yeah.”
We reached an implicit agreement.
But there was little point in keeping it secret anyway. It wouldn’t take long before everyone caught on.
“Hey, did Ah-hyun happen to say anything to you guys separately about this Ajusa situation?”
“Huh?”
“He was trembling so much while watching TV.”
T1 had been advertising the new season of Ajusa across all the broadcasts they were investing in.
Starting with Ryu Chung-woo, the two youngest members sat beside the subdued Sun Ah-hyun, their pupils trembling as they panicked.
“Your expression is terrible, hyung! It looks like you’re in pain!”
“This must be the trauma from when you participated in the Audition Program being revived as you watch this provocative new season…. That’s it! Should we report this season to the broadcasting committee?”
“That’s not it, so calm down.”
“Right, dummy! It’s not the broadcast—it’s a person!”
“A person?”
“Yes!”
Finally, Bae Sae-jin.
“That thing you guys were talking about last time, Ajusa, right? That person! The one who did ballet—could it be Sun Ah-hyun….”
“Yes. That’s probably it.”
“…Y-yeah.”
And so the six of us, excluding Ah-hyun, arrived at the same conclusion and began wrestling with how to resolve this crisis.
Then, on a day when Ah-hyun went out for a personal photo shoot, we gathered in the living room and started our discussion.
“….”
“First, we could report anonymously… no, that won’t work. We’re not living with them right now anyway.”
Chung-woo, who’d brought it up, nodded. The rest of us followed suit with serious expressions.
But other ideas didn’t come easily. For good reason.
‘None of us have similar experiences.’
Most of us had no connection to school violence, so we weren’t getting anywhere.
Even Bae Sae-jin, who was less social, seemed to have lived a life of being ostracized by his class.
“Hmm, should we start spreading rumors first?”
“That might actually rally their fans instead. Wouldn’t we just be giving them ammunition to refute any formal accusations later?”
“Wow, that’s convincing.”
Big Sae-jin spoke as if resentful, then tilted his head back.
Bae Sae-jin opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“…Are there any SNS records?”
“Ah, you mean their personal SNS?”
“Yeah. Those types always love to blab on SNS for attention.”
It was a decent approach, but I shook my head.
“They deleted all their SNS accounts.”
“A-all of them?”
“Yes.”
Not a single account remained. And they’d done it half a year ago.
‘Right after the new season of Ajusa audition announcement dropped, they cleaned everything up.’
At least they had some basic intelligence.
“Then… there’s almost nothing we can do in this situation. No leads.”
“That’s right.”
When the atmosphere grew slightly heavy, Cha Yu-jin suddenly raised his hand.
“Let’s hear Ah-hyun hyung’s opinion!”
“…Ah-hyun’s?”
“Yes! Let’s ask what he wants to do. His thoughts are what matter most!”
“Hmm.”
I’d avoided it because I thought it would burden him, but honestly, that was the right call.
At this point, when the other members had already caught on, it would be strange not to mention it.
‘And whatever we’re going to do, we should do it now.’
The longer we wait, the more famous this bastard becomes.
Even now, the new season of Ajusa was growing rapidly on the back of controversy and buzz.
The talent pool wasn’t as strong as previous seasons, but they were weaving the narrative well by distinguishing between pieces to discard and pieces to save.
‘Ryu Seo-rin.’
That writer clearly has talent. Her sense improved even more after going through K-NOW.
The program’s popularity was even better than the previous season with Miry-nay.
‘I need to do something about this.’
And it had to be soon. If we let it go until the next ranking announcement, it’ll be beyond control.
‘…In the end, there’s no way but to ask him directly.’
I nodded.
“I’ll ask him a bit. Since we’re roommates.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“And since Ah-hyun might be scared if only Park Moon-dae is there, I’ll come along too~”
“….”
What?
Yet surprisingly, Big Sae-jin’s words passed without any objection. I was starting to wonder what kind of image I had among these guys.
Anyway, that night, as soon as Sun Ah-hyun came back from filming and was about to go to bed, I made my move.
“Huh, huh? Sae-jin?”
“Yeah~ Ah-hyun, come sit!”
Sun Ah-hyun looked puzzled, but without suspicion, he approached and sat on his bed.
“Did the photo shoot go well?”
“Mm-hmm. It seemed okay…!”
And after getting through the introductory small talk to ease the atmosphere, the main topic finally began.
“Ah-hyun. Do you happen to know the current number one on Ajusa?”
“…D, does it show?”
“A little.”
It was actually pretty obvious, but I softened my words appropriately.
Sun Ah-hyun, stiffening, seemed at a loss, then slowly nodded.
“Y-yeah, w-we went to the same middle school.”
I threw a fastball.
“That’s the guy who liked you when you got hurt.”
“…!”
Sun Ah-hyun swallowed hard, then admitted it.
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
As I thought.
“But… I’m not sure.”
What?
“M-maybe… it’s because I’m weak-hearted. I m-mean, there are always people who dislike you when you live, right? But I, I just can’t handle that well….”
“Wait a minute.”
I cut him off.
“If you don’t like someone, you just don’t associate with them. The one harassing is the weird one, isn’t he?”
“H-harassing… I’m n-not even sure if that’s what it was. It’s not like he hit me or anything….”
“What was it like then.”
“H-he treated me with a smile… but it didn’t feel sincere, and s-strange things happened often….”
“…Can you give me an example?”
“Sh-shoes went missing, and I was in a bind… A few days later, they came back with a thank you for lending them. B-but I didn’t remember lending them, and when they said it with a smile…”
“I see.”
“I-I thought they were laughing because I messed up a technique, but when I heard about it, they were just laughing during a normal conversation, and maybe I was being oversensitive…”
Wow.
There really are all kinds of bastards in this world.
‘They specifically targeted Sun Ah-hyun and tormented him.’
Did they really need to dislike someone in such a subtle way?
It would’ve been easier to catch if they were like typical psychos who just beat people up and made them do punishment exercises.
Big Sae-jin, who had been listening quietly with an enigmatic expression beside me, casually asked.
“Ah-hyun~ was it maybe that you were first and that person was second?”
“Huh? W-well, not exactly… but a few times?”
“Hmm. That person came in first sometimes too, right?”
“Ah, probably?”
Big Sae-jin let out a laugh.
“Okay~ Aigo, they definitely bullied you. Ah-hyun. Don’t worry about stuff like that~ That bastard was in the wrong! They were jealous of you!”
“Y-yeah, P-Park Moon-dae said the same thing.”
Sun Ah-hyun nodded with considerable composure.
“A-and the c-counselor also said that even if it wasn’t bullying, it wasn’t strange that I got hurt…”
Now there’s someone who really gets their money’s worth from counseling.
“I-I’m doing much better now! Just… I didn’t expect to see it this way, so I was a bit surprised…!”
“I see! Of course that’s possible.”
As Sun Ah-hyun spoke, he seemed to be reassuring himself and recovering, and his expression became more at ease.
But the rest of us weren’t feeling particularly good.
“Ah, well I’m gonna head to bed~ Don’t worry about Ah-hyun because of that awful guy!”
“Y-yeah!”
“I need some water.”
I followed him as he headed to his room.
Tap.
The moment Big Sae-jin came into the living room, he spoke bluntly.
“There won’t be any evidence for this.”
“…”
“It’s a bit embarrassing, but… if I really hated someone that much, I think I would’ve acted like that? I would’ve been nice to the other kids. Definitely.”
“Just go to bed for now. I’ll think about it.”
“…Okay. You get some sleep too.”
I patted Big Sae-jin’s shoulder and sat down in the living room.
“Hmm.”
Let me calm my emotions and think this through again.
Chae Seo-dam.
A guy who’s quite clever with tricks. Skilled at interpersonal relationships and knows how to manipulate peers.
At the same time, what I can tell from the fact that he specifically targeted Sun Ah-hyun is…
‘Highly competitive, ambitious about success… and prone to inferiority complexes.’
If that’s the case, then clearly he has an inflated ego and strong pride.
A person like that, in a situation like this…
‘He wiped his SNS clean long ago, and there are no classmate testimonies.’
There’s also the arrogance of believing he’s eliminated all potential obstacles to his future.
That’s where the opening appears.
‘Arrogance usually leads to mistakes.’
“….”
It’s 11 PM now. Normally a late hour, but active idols are usually awake at this time.
I made a phone call.
The dial tone rang briefly before someone picked up immediately.
“Hello.”
-Huh? Oh, Park Moon-dae?
This was Miry-nay’s manager’s direct line.
And the person I was trying to reach was… Miry-nay’s first-place member.
What was his name again.
“If you don’t mind, could you put Jung Yul-gi on the line?”
-Huh??
I barely managed to convince the bewildered manager that this wasn’t some pointless bonding call but rather business, and then I was able to speak with him.
-Hello, senior!
“Yes, hello.”
-It’s great to hear from you! But what’s this about?
“Do you remember the conversation we had a few days ago about Ajusa?”
-Oh! Yes, of course!
I tightened my grip on the phone and asked in a lower voice.
“You mentioned seeing some problematic participants back then… was there anyone among them who’s popular now?”
-Whoa, yeah!
Good. This is where it starts.

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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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