Debut or Die - Chapter 323

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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 323
Park Moon-dae heading to meet Ryu Gun-woo together with Ryu Chung-woo… or so it seemed.
“Moon-dae, were you startled? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
How did things spiral into this mess in an instant? I pressed down on my eyelids to keep them from twitching.
So… Ryu Chung-woo had finally tracked down Ryu Gun-woo’s whereabouts. Right, let me start with that.
“I was a bit surprised. I’m curious how you suddenly got in touch with him.”
“Right? I was too.”
No, your reason and mine would be different. But regardless, Ryu Chung-woo grinned and continued his explanation.
“One of the eldest family’s grandsons met him at the Seoul Civil Service Training Center and reached out.”
“…!”
“Apparently, there were quite a few people who remembered him from Moon Jung.”
That seemed like more than just people simply remembering him.
A former national team gold medalist, current award-winning idol—the family elders must have been so thrilled by Ryu Chung-woo’s words that they actively searched for him.
‘That makes sense.’
A single title was enough to induce patriotic fervor, but a double title? That was enough to make eyes roll back.
So the moment Ryu Gun-woo’s body started social life, they tracked him down.
Regardless of the situation, the logic made sense to me. So I nodded silently.
‘But how do I handle this car situation?’
If he noticed the strange tension between Park Moon-dae in Ryu Gun-woo’s body and me, it would be time to book a psychiatric hospital. My mind raced frantically.
At the very least, I’d need Ryu Chung-woo to just drop me off in front of Ryu Gun-woo and drive away….
“Sorry. I guess I got too excited and made it a surprise. Something like this might need mental preparation.”
He was making excuses for me on his own. I answered gravely, trying not to show relief.
“Well, I’m grateful, but I’m nervous and flustered. I’m worried I won’t be able to have a proper conversation. How about we go back for today?”
It would be stupid to immediately say something like ‘my feelings changed, I don’t want to meet’ after all that fuss about discussing my life’s value.
‘I’ll take my time and handle this carefully.’
But Ryu Chung-woo opened his mouth with a worried expression.
“Really? Except for today, it’ll be hard to find another day for a while… there’s the tour after the awards ceremony.”
Damn it.
“Right… I’ll have to make time somehow.”
Ryu Chung-woo smiled faintly.
“Don’t worry too much. I have my license, so… I can probably sneak you out of the company for a bit.”
“….”
“You don’t have your license anyway, Moon-dae.”
“…That’s right. Thank you.”
This is driving me insane.
‘Sigh….’
Since he’s already figured it out, it’s difficult to meet Ryu Gun-woo separately without saying anything.
And if I refuse after he’s gone to the trouble of arranging this and whine about getting his contact information instead, it could become an emotional issue.
‘He went through all the trouble of flipping Moon Jung upside down to find him, and now he’ll think I’ve changed my mind.’
I even found myself thinking that it might be better to just get in this car and meet him today.
I weighed the options carefully.
“If you’re too nervous, we can reschedule for another time. I’ll talk to the Company and arrange—”
“No, sir. I’ll calm down on the way there.”
“All right then.”
Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. The moment I tell the Company, word could leak to staff or journalists, and then everything goes to hell.
‘There are already plenty of people interested in Park Moon-dae’s past.’
Ryu Gun-woo is a civilian, but he’s a relative of Ryu Chung-woo. I can’t guarantee that no one will dig into his finances or family circumstances.
“….”
Yeah, screw it. I’ve decided. I’m going now.
Given the situation, I forced myself to smile. If my expression looked terrible here, it would only raise more suspicion.
“Anyway… I’m really grateful. It’s surprising and my heart’s racing.”
In more ways than one.
“Ha ha. Got it. We have some time, so let’s take it slow.”
Before meeting Ryu Gun-woo, I made one last attempt to eliminate this guy by suggesting he could drop me off and leave, but….
“So, how will you get back?”
I fell silent.
If I don’t want word getting back to the Company, I can’t call the Manager either. Taking a taxi would just create eyewitness accounts.
‘Either way, Ryu Chung-woo is better for security….’
Giving up feels oddly comfortable. Let me just do what needs to be done.
I deleted the text where I’d been jotting down a few candidate numbers for Big Dal. I couldn’t let Ryu Chung-woo discover any call records if he checked my phone.
‘I’ll just pretend to exchange numbers and get out of here quickly.’
I ran through several scenarios in my head, but something felt off—a nagging tension at the back of my skull.
And then practical questions started surfacing.
“By the way… does he already have an appointment set up?”
“Huh?”
Ryu Chung-woo shrugged.
“I got a call too. A relative who goes to the Training Center with me said there’s someone who wants to meet, and asked if he could spare a moment to say hello. He said yes.”
What?

* * *
A short while later, at a training center in the Seoul Outskirts.
People who had just finished today’s training session poured out through the doors.
Since the training had been hastily scheduled for Seoul only due to personnel reassignment issues, there were no overnight accommodations—just commuting schedules—but that wasn’t my concern anyway.
What mattered was that Ryu Gun-woo was actually waiting in the restaurant private room next door.
‘This bastard.’
Remarkable. I didn’t need to suspect that I’d fall for such a flimsy excuse as “someone wants to meet you.”
But I fell for it perfectly.
“Uh, um, hello.”
Hearing that response, I confirmed that Big Dal was indeed inside. I listened to his tone—the kind that made me want to break into a cold sweat—and felt certain.
It irritated me, but at the same time, it was reassuring.
Ever since seeing him in the mental world, I’d expected to feel a similar sense of dissonance when actually meeting him in person, but I didn’t.
Rather, this was the first time I was seeing him directly control Ryu Gun-woo’s body… and the feeling was oddly fresh.
If I had a younger brother, I suppose this is what it would feel like.
“You came to see me…?”
Yeah, you bastard. With all your limbs intact, why haven’t you contacted me, and why did you show up for this suspicious meeting?
…I couldn’t say that, so I simply bowed my head calmly.
“Hello. Hyung.”
“Yes, yes?”
“You remember me, right? I’m Park Moon-dae, the one you helped.”
Get your story straight. Please.
Big Dal glanced quickly between me and Ryu Chung-woo, then responded as if he’d just had an exclamation mark appear above his head.
“Oh, ah~ Moon-dae… right!”
“…Yes.”
This is a disaster. He has no talent for acting.
However, Ryu Chung-woo seemed somewhat puzzled, but perhaps thinking Big Dal was just flustered, he smiled and greeted me first.
“I was actually surprised to hear that Moon-dae had a relative hyung who helped him so much. Thank you for meeting with us like this.”
Considering the various difficult situations that could arise in our line of work, I figured I’d just stay seated and keep my mouth shut.
Besides, with Big Dal posing as Ryu Gun-woo’s relative and my roommate from the training program, there wasn’t really anything to criticize.
‘If I kick him out now, he might get his feelings hurt.’
Once he felt he’d sufficiently lightened the mood, he’d probably leave on his own. Until then, there was nothing I could do. I watched the scene unfold with a heavy heart.
“Thank you, but…! What did I even do? I should be thanking Gun-woo… uh, ahem.”
And I knew this would happen. I immediately changed the subject.
“Let’s start with the meal first.”
“Oh, yes. Hyung Gun-woo, what would you like… is it okay to call you that?”
“…Yes.”
This is a disaster. I was planning to just have some tea and leave quickly, but now he’s ordering a full meal.
Watching Ryu Chung-woo order a course meal, my stomach turned. I could already see there was no way out of this.
‘Damn it.’
…And an hour later.
By the time I’d finished everything and was putting the Peking duck—the main course—into my mouth, Big Dal’s slip-ups had exceeded five times.
“….”
A new personal record.
‘I suspected as much.’
At this point, it was becoming habitual.
In truth, Big Dal wasn’t being particularly careless. It was just that Ryu Chung-woo kept trying to lighten the mood by steering the conversation, causing Big Dal to unconsciously slip up with his pronouns each time.
For instance, when explaining how Park Moon-dae and Ryu Gun-woo first met.
-Ah, back then, you really… even though I was meeting you for the first time, you gave me so much advice….
-Your older brother did that. I still remember it well.
It was like that. It was a close call.
Big Dal tried his best to be mindful of his position and our swapped bodies when speaking, but for someone who’d spent four years doing nothing but studying, it wasn’t easy to manage while eating.
By the way, the worst moment was when we were eating the braised pork belly.
-Back then, Gun-woo hyung… uh, wait.
He’d made a mistake with the honorific.
I won’t lie. I broke out in a cold sweat right there.
-…Yes. I meant to say that ‘Gun-woo hyung was very helpful, and I’m grateful.’
-….
I honestly thought it was over.
But Ryu Chung-woo simply answered quite smoothly.
-Ah, I see.
And a moment later, he leaned in and whispered to me, lowering his voice.
‘It seems like studying for so long has made it hard for you to control how much you talk. I’ll be more careful.’
‘….’
Ryu Chung-woo had created an excuse for us on his own again, just like in the car. It was the kind of sincere, conscientious behavior of someone who genuinely tried to understand others.
‘Right. Let’s wrap this up soon.’
I quickly accepted his kindness and managed to survive the moment.
And now, just before the main dishes arrived.
“I need to take a call for a moment.”
“Of course!”
Ryu Chung-woo left the table.
Tak.
The moment the door closed, I saw the guy across from me heave a long sigh.
“Phew….”
You’ve had it rough.
I crossed my arms and looked at the guy in front of me. He kept his gaze lowered, aware of his mistake.
“….”
“….”
Good. No one else was around.
I uncrossed my arms, opened my mouth, and broached the real subject.
“Why didn’t you contact me.”
His limbs look perfectly fine, so I wonder if something else has gone wrong, which complicates my calculations.
But the guy across from me looked utterly shocked.
“I did…! I sent it!”
What?
“I never got a response, so I was about to reach out separately. What are you talking about?”
“Oh, oh, I thought that was your message…. Ah, no. Well, I….”
Big Dal answered with an expression of profound grievance.
“I texted you right when I saw you looking suspicious, hyung….”
….
Wait. Let me verify something.
“Right after watching the live broadcast?”
“Yes…. You didn’t reply, so I thought you were busy and waited.”
Damn it.
“I told you to contact me after the awards ceremony ended.”
“Huh??”
His expression was blank, as if he didn’t see the difference. I pressed my temples and explained.
“Any number not in my contacts gets blocked entirely, and during the awards ceremony I was working and didn’t have time to check my phone, so I couldn’t change the settings.”
“…! Oh no.”
His message had been filtered out along with countless others that arrived the moment the awards were announced.
Big Dal buried his face in his hands.
“I’m so sorry…!”
“It’s fine.”
It was my fault for not explaining the details. I suppressed a sigh.
“And next time someone you don’t know sets up a meeting like this, ask more detailed questions.”
I don’t know what nerve he had to accept such a suspicious invitation.
The guy across from me muttered in a deflated voice.
“No… I thought this was some kind of signal you were sending me.”
“A signal?”
“Like in 007. Since we both have the surname Ryu, I thought maybe you were contacting me in some coded way…. And there’s Ryu Chung-woo among the members too….”
….
This guy really does have a vivid imagination. Yet somehow he manages to hit on the core of things, which is oddly amusing.
I let out a small laugh.
“Yeah. You got it right this time. Be more careful going forward.”
“Yes…!”
Seeing Ryu Gun-woo’s face light up with satisfaction feels strangely odd. It’s far less like me than I expected.
‘Does the impression change this much depending on who’s inside?’
I reluctantly acknowledged that thought, then moved on to the next topic.
The most pressing matter.
“And right now, the most important thing is to be careful not to let anyone find out.”
“Ugh. Yes….”
He lowered his head, clearly frustrated as well.
“Honestly, some of this is my fault too—I asked Ryu Chung-woo to look into where my body is. So don’t worry too much. I’ll keep covering for you.”
However, he instructed me to keep my responses short, avoiding lengthy answers, and to cut replies brief with excuses like “I’m tired from training.”
The guy nodded earnestly and sincerely. He seemed to have grasped it well.
I also set a task for myself.
“From now on, I’ll be careful with the topics so our past doesn’t come up in conversation.”
The guy across from me’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, then should we talk about Testa instead?”
“That works too.”
“Hmm, well then I can really tell you everything from our debut days onwards.”
Geez.
His tension seemed to ease a bit, and his shoulders relaxed slightly. In the now-peaceful atmosphere of the private room, I yielded a few remaining pieces of Peking duck to him.
“Answer slowly while you eat.”
“Yes!”
But separate from the mood settling, once the topic of debut came up, a thought naturally connected itself.
The scenery of our debut song’s “Magic Boy” teaser unfolding through the balcony window—that experience in that inner world.
His remark that had bothered me there.
“….”
I slowly opened my mouth.
“You know.”
“Yes!”
“…Last time, you said ‘for a while’ with that body. Are you planning to leave it soon?”
“….”
“There’s no need to.”
The face that had been expressing bewilderment and joy so well until now stiffened slightly. Instead, a strange expression appeared—one that looked almost inhuman.
It was that feeling I’d seen in the inner world. I closed my mouth.
His answer came without hesitation.
“There is a need.”
What?
“But hyung, it’s not my thought.”
“…Then.”
“I have… a set date for the last day I’ll live as a person.”
The day he fell from the railing and made a wish to the system.
“It’s next summer.”
“….”
“So the date I can use this body… is until next summer.”
Damn it.

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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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