Debut or Die - Chapter 328

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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 328
I had definitely encountered Bae Sae-jin while in Ryu Gun-woo’s body.
‘At most, I only cheered him on in front of the washroom sink to help him escape the situation.’
I’d even wondered if Bae Sae-jin might have remembered that experience as something meaningful.
But I’d never suspected he would remember Ryu Gun-woo’s face.
Tens of thousands of fans must have seen this guy’s face by now, and he remembers the face of a fan he saw just once? Even one wearing a cap pulled down low?
But when someone points with their finger while exclaiming in wonder, anyone can tell it means ‘I know you.’ There’s no room for doubt. We have a connection.
‘Phew.’
At least with my earbuds in, I didn’t hear the strange situation where ‘Ryu Gun-woo’ called me his older brother. That’s good.
I opened my mouth immediately upon grasping the situation. Naturally.
I spoke to the person on my smartphone.
“Hyung, I’ll call you back.”
-W-wait…? Um….
I couldn’t let Bae Sae-jin get carried away with the momentum. I’d hang up first and smooth things over.
But Bae Sae-jin moved first. He grabbed my arm and whispered urgently.
“You… I found you!”
“…!”
“You’re that person from the video, right?”
In that moment, I understood the situation correctly.
‘Ah. It was that, then.’
Right. Now I remember. Bae Sae-jin had accompanied me when I checked Ryu Chung-woo’s home video.
It seemed that memory of watching it carefully multiple times had stuck with him.
…Or perhaps I remembered because I’d done the insane thing of barging into my coworker’s hometown on a holiday night and rummaging through family videos.
I barely managed to answer.
“…Yes. That’s my brother.”
“I knew it!”
Bae Sae-jin looked at ‘Ryu Gun-woo’ on the screen with a knowing expression.
‘Even so, his eye for detail is impressive.’
The person in the home video was quite young, and since the person inside had changed, the impression should have been different, yet he managed to recognize me.
-Um… should I say hello?
No, just stay quiet for now.
I gave Bae Sae-jin a slight eye signal toward the screen while answering his question.
“How did you find me?”
“One of Chung-woo hyung’s family members was able to contact me.”
To prevent unnecessary back-and-forth questions and pointless chatter, I provided more specific context as well.
Let’s end this here.
“A few days ago, the two of us made time to go out for a bit. We met then and exchanged contact information.”
“…Hmm, I see.”
That’s the face of someone who didn’t even know Chung-woo and I had gone out that day.
‘Well, he’s not Big Sae-jin, after all.’
Even though Cha Yu-jin is my roommate, he rarely leaves the room anyway.
In any case, the situation seemed to be settling down. I nodded and opened my mouth.
“Actually, I was planning to tell you the news since you were kind enough to go with me to check Chung-woo’s home video back then. Thank you.”
“That… no. What did I do? Anyway, it worked out, and… if there’s anything I can help with, just let me know….”
Bae Sae-jin rambled for a moment, then did something remarkably social.
The moment his eyes met Ryu Gun-woo’s on the screen, he greeted him.
“So this is the person you… ahem, hello.”
-Yes? Yes…!
That guy’s response only reaches my earbuds, so why is he greeting him anyway?
-Oh, I see. He can’t hear me on his end, right?
So he just figured it out.
“…What are you saying?”
“Just a moment.”
Since things have come to this, it would be cleaner to let them exchange a brief greeting and then disconnect.
I deliberately looked at the screen and spoke clearly.
“Hyung. The conversation isn’t transmitting… if you don’t mind, I’ll disconnect the earbuds now.”
A warning to prepare himself.
-…Got it!
His tone changed, as if determined not to make a mistake this time. And his expression changed too… wait, is he mimicking me?
He relaxed his face and spoke in a firm voice.
-Hello. I’m Ryu Gun-woo.
It doesn’t suit him.
“…Yes. Well, I’m Bae Sae-jin, on the same team as Moon-dae.”
Once communication began, Bae Sae-jin reverted to his true self as if his earlier greeting had been a lie. He really is shy around strangers.
Still, it was welcome that the atmosphere had calmed down. The guy on the screen had reciprocated with excessively polite greetings.
A good distance between them. Let’s keep it this way.
-Yes. I’m a big supporter of Testa. Congratulations on the award.
“…Thank you.”
However, Bae Sae-jin answered a beat late, then with a peculiar expression, he stepped away from the smartphone camera and whispered to me again.
“…Um, does that person perhaps work in broadcasting?”
“…?”
What an odd question.
“No. Why?”
“Just… his face seems somehow familiar… ….”
Bae Sae-jin trailed off and stopped. Then he stared intently at the guy on the screen who was still mimicking me.
“….”
A rather significant silence.
I immediately spoke up.
“Hyung, then next time we’ll see you again….”
“Wait.”
Bae Sae-jin raised his hand, speaking with an uncertain tone.
“Did we perhaps meet a few years ago? It was at the Concert Hall, and we were talking about autographs in front of the washroom….”
“…!”
No, there’s nothing to be shocked about. Calm down.
‘I wasn’t certain about it.’
As the situations overlapped, the memory just flickered to mind—I was simply trying to verify it once.
And besides, it wasn’t even that guy on the screen who did it. I could answer without any pangs of conscience that I had no idea what he was talking about….
-Oh, oh…! That bathroom….
“….”
Why are you lighting up over there?
‘So you experienced that together with Gong-myeong too.’
I watched the two excited fools with cold eyes.
Ryu Gun-woo on the screen reacted with excessive enthusiasm, and thanks to that, Bae Sae-jin immediately became certain.
“…!! I knew it!”
-Wow, I wasn’t sure if you’d remember….
“…Of course I remember. I was really grateful back then.”
Bae Sae-jin seemed to hesitate slightly, but ultimately added one more thing.
“It… really helped me a lot. Thanks to you, I found a lot of good stories too.”
-Hmm, I see.
Why are you blinking your eyes so proudly?
It was absurd, but he continued speaking with a slightly excited tone.
-I think the me from back then would have been incredibly happy to hear this…!
“….”
The Ryu Gun-woo from back then?
Don’t tell me this bastard didn’t just go along with it by accident….
‘Was he saying that for me to hear?’
I was at a loss for words and stared at his screen.
Big Dal had even forgotten to manage his expression, his lips twitching with a pleased smile. From beside me, I heard Bae Sae-jin clear his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, yes. I’m also happy to greet you like this. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you an autograph back then….”
“….”
Yeah, well… it was nice that such a trivial thing had actually helped Bae Sae-jin all this time.
It wasn’t a big deal, just a small heartwarming story, so wrapping it up here and moving on might actually be better than realizing it later and making a fuss about it.
I let out a small laugh.
“We were planning to give you a signed album when the next one comes out anyway.”
“Ah, well, that works then.”
-I’m really looking forward to it….
“That’s an honor.”
The atmosphere loosens a bit. More precisely, Bae Sae-jin alone began to overcome his shyness.
‘At this rate, we might end up chatting.’
Any further and the conversation might develop gaps, so this time I properly concluded the discussion.
“Hyung, you said you have training tomorrow too. I feel like I’ve taken up too much of your time.”
-…! Y-yes, that’s right. I’m sorry, I’ll head back now.
“Ah, yes. That… okay. Thank you.”
Big Dal caught the signal quickly this time, and the call ended there.
Beep.
Staring at the disconnected screen, Bae Sae-jin murmured with an enigmatic expression.
“…So he really was a fan of our group.”
“….”
If I don’t ask now, it’ll be even stranger, won’t it?
“Do you two know each other?”
“We haven’t actually met… I received support as a fan, but… I only saw him for a few seconds, so I didn’t realize until now that he was the person you’ve been looking for! I knew you were searching for someone, but I didn’t intentionally keep quiet about it….”
“That makes sense. You can’t remember the face of everyone you meet.”
“Y-yes.”
Bae Sae-jin let out a relieved sigh.
“Still… it’s strange. Both you and I received help from the same person… I never thought we’d have a connection like this. It makes me think that human connections really do exist.”
“They do.”
“Ahem… It’s a bit odd that someone who gave such kind words early on is still supporting us even now….”
“It’s because you’ve been active well all this time, hyung.”
“Y-yes? Hmm, I wouldn’t say that much… but thank you.”
“No problem.”
Bae Sae-jin seemed genuinely excited now.
“S-should we mention something like this on a variety show? Or not?”
“….”
Let’s stop there.
“We could also keep it as a memory just between us. But more importantly, hyung, the reason you called me….”
“Oh!”
Only then did his expression change, and he got to the main point.
“Right, the company contacted me…!”
Hmm.
‘The kind of contact that would make Bae Sae-jin run to find me?’
He’s not trying to take back his surrender, is he? I folded my arms.
“Your agency?”
“Not that company… the company above it!”
Bae Sae-jin exclaimed with an excited expression.
“T1 Entertainment contacted me directly!”
“…!!”
The parent company had made a move.
I followed Bae Sae-jin into the room. Several others were already gathered there, apparently summoned by Cha Yu-jin as well.
“We’ve returned!! We slipped away quietly without being noticed by anyone in the AR Team, just as you instructed!”
“Y-yes.”
When Kim Rae-bin, who had been at the Studio, finally joined us, the briefing finally began.
“It’s nothing major, but we received a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
Ryu Chung-woo explained briefly.
T1 Entertainment sent an email directly, bypassing the Agency. It went to the manager we’d discussed the dedicated team issue with last time, and the board’s opinion was sent directly….
As I listened to his words, I rubbed my chin and summed it up simply in one sentence.
“So… you’re saying they want to pull us out as a direct subsidiary label entirely.”
“Exactly.”
Not under T1 Stars, their own subsidiary, but as a true direct affiliate of T1 Entertainment itself.
‘That’s insane.’
It was an absurdly generous offer. They even sent a restructured settlement plan to explain just how much we’d benefit.
“What about our current Agency then?”
“There was no separate mention of that.”
That made sense.
‘They’re basically screwed, so it’d be awkward to write it directly.’
Normally, even if we established a label, we’d still perform planning and activities independently, but the accounting structure—revenue processing and such—would remain under T1 Stars.
‘Our revenue would have continued to be recorded under that Agency.’
Since we’d be a subsidiary label.
But with this arrangement, we’d cleanly sever ties with the Agency entirely.
A literal transfer.
And since we’d be taking the entire dedicated team with us, the company wouldn’t just be in crisis—it’d take a serious hit.
But with the parent company backing us, we don’t need to worry about retaliation.
“If this happens… we’re completely leaving that Agency!”
“Ooh~”
A perfect escape timing that seemed like a dream.
Some guys were already clapping, apparently satisfied with how refreshing the situation was….
‘Hmm. This isn’t good.’
My eyebrows twitched.
This was undeniably exceptional treatment—a major deal and affiliation change that anyone with even a passing interest in the entertainment industry would judge Testa as T1’s chosen successor.
And that’s the problem.
‘I can’t get too entangled with T1’s image.’
T1, true to its sprawling conglomerate nature, already had a terrible image.
Especially in the cultural business sector, represented by the Tnet channel, there was plenty of talk about their attention-grabbing K-pop exploitation strategy “destroying the industry ecosystem.”
So what about the image of T1 Entertainment backing and pushing a business venture?
It would be the worst.
‘It’s not just benefiting from corporate backing—we’d become the main business of T1 Entertainment.’
During my rookie days, there was already all that fuss about corporate broadcasting company overreach, and every time T1 screws up, there’s a high probability they’ll attach us to it.
Whenever something happens in the future, we’d be perfectly positioned to be framed as the strong, the aggressor.
‘And that’s not even all.’
There was one more decisive reason.
‘…If the company appears to be entirely on our side, that’s a problem.’
In business, you can’t please everyone. Problems inevitably arise.
The idol industry was no exception.
When problems occur, responsibility follows—and if the company starts by feeding us this narrative of support and respect, we’ll end up absorbing all the backlash ourselves.
-T1 is being T1 again
-Ugh, leave our kids alone
Instead of those comments,
-Haha.. guys, please do this properly.
-The members who didn’t participate this time are brainless, so hands off from next time, got it?
Those kinds of voices would multiply. That couldn’t happen.
‘T1 needs to be seen as having conflicting interests with us.’
The moment that image breaks, people might either excuse the company’s mistakes just like they would ours, or worse—lump the company and idols together in blame. A nightmare scenario.
Long-term, it would be a disaster.
“….”
“What do you all think? I’m… actually fine with it!”
“M-me too.”
The problem was, just because I thought that way didn’t mean I could properly convince these excited idiots.
‘Honestly, the reasoning is pretty ugly.’
I needed people to blame the company for everything—I couldn’t exactly say that out loud.
I could already see at least three people who wouldn’t be swayed by logic alone.
‘…If only there was an emotional justification.’
That’s when Kim Rae-bin muttered quietly beside me, his voice drooping.
“Then… some members of the AR Team would have to part ways because their affiliations would completely change….”
“…!”
This bastard. Well said.
That’s it.
“Hmm, couldn’t we just bring everyone along?”
“That would be difficult. I don’t think the agency would be so accommodating.”
I answered with deliberate finality.
“Taking our dedicated team would already deal a massive blow to the agency. Extracting other people would be nearly impossible.”
“Ugh….”
“S-so… what happens to those who can’t come with us?”
“They’ll have to work in a harder environment than before.”
Kim Rae-bin’s face went pale. I crossed my arms.
“But that doesn’t mean we have to stay behind for their sake. Everyone lives their own life.”
“Y-yes….”
That’s when Sun Ah-hyun carefully raised his hand.
“Um, um….”
“Yeah.”
“Then… couldn’t we just stay here and drive out all the bad people? Is that… impossible….”
I answered calmly.
“Kicking them out would be difficult.”
“Y-yeah. I suppose so….”
That’s when Ryu Chung-woo spoke up.
“But couldn’t we at least prevent them from doing anything wrong going forward?”
“…!”
“Right?”
This one had more backup than I expected. I nodded.
“That we can do.”
“Oh~ I like that. Let’s fight!”
Cha Yu-jin immediately shifted his stance. Typical of him. And Bae Sae-jin hesitated with his words.
“It’s not bad, though….”
Right. I knew this one would be into it too.
“Then let’s consider this option as well.”
The response was quite favorable.
‘Good.’
I interlaced my fingers.
“Then let’s wait for the right moment until everyone’s completely made up their minds on one side.”
“The right moment?”
“Since the story’s progressed this far now, I think the timing will work out.”
I glanced at the one sitting beside me.
Big Sae-jin.
“Like he said before, once the targets are all dealt with, our bargaining power will only grow.”
“…!”
In other words, until the moment when the others are most anxious.
Big Sae-jin’s eyes widened, then he grinned.
I smiled along with him.
“Let’s wait until then.”
Testa went on to receive a total of 32 award trophies during the year-end and New Year awards season.
And among them, 5 were Grand Prize trophies.
Our deal began to move at that point.

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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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