Debut or Die - Chapter 350

—————

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 350
On the flight back home, I faced reality head-on.
‘When am I going to tell him?’
Time was running out.
This wasn’t the tour season where I could flexibly adjust my schedule whenever I wanted.
We were in the early stages of activities where the schedule was planned down to the minute.
‘I can barely step outside right now, let alone find time for this.’
Would there really be an opportunity in this insane schedule to sit down alone with Sun Ah-hyun and have a proper conversation?
But I found the answer easily enough.
“I can use my room, right?”
“…!”
“I have a solo room~ We can talk at night after schedules wrap up!”
That’s right.
It was convenient that the guy using the solo room at the dormitory was someone who already knew the full situation. I wouldn’t need to go out of my way to find a place.
“Of course, Sae-jin needs sleep too~ If the conversation gets long, I’ll use your room… Park Moon-dae? You’re listening, right?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I adjusted a few schedule timings on the airplane, and once I got back to the dormitory, I decided to call Sun Ah-hyun aside separately…
“I’ll be there too. Even if Ah-hyun really likes his friend, people need the right atmosphere and proper preparation to trust what they’re hearing~”
That made sense.
Besides, Sun Ah-hyun seemed bothered by the fact that Big Sae-jin and I were keeping something from him, so it was better to have the other person present as well.
That day, I spoke to Sun Ah-hyun right at the advertisement filming set we went to directly from the airport.
“Ah-hyun.”
“Hm?”
“After we finish filming and get back to the dormitory, I’m thinking we should talk together at night—me, Lee Sae-jin, and you.”
“Hm! Of course, obviously!”
“Yeah, okay.”
He was incredibly eager about it. Thanks to that, the appointment was set in no time.
And so the three of us—all the same age in body—ended up sitting around the sofa in Big Sae-jin’s solo room.
“Come on, everyone make yourselves comfortable~”
“Ah, um…!”
“….”
I had no idea how this guy managed to sleep with over a dozen character figurines lined up right in front of his bed. Did he have nerves of steel?
Anyway, I turned my head away from the figurines and looked at Sun Ah-hyun.
Sun Ah-hyun seemed nervous, but at the same time, he seemed to be anticipating something.
‘His eyes are sparkling.’
Well, it was a secret big enough to warrant that reaction.
That’s right. Even last year, I never thought I’d be telling him something like this so openly.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“First… if you’ve felt a bit left out because of the situation recently, I’m sorry.”
“Ah, no, that’s not it…! Of course, um, you don’t need to hear about it from me either…. Everyone’s just busy working, that’s all….”
“…?”
Wait.
I glanced back at Big Sae-jin. Confusion flickered across his face as well.
Meanwhile, Sun Ah-hyun continued speaking, his face flushed.
“I, I haven’t been able to lead conversations well, or… show anything impressive on a professional level…. Um, I thought it couldn’t be easily shared….”
“….”
This is it.
Sun Ah-hyun must have assumed that Big Sae-jin and I were handling some grand, complicated behind-the-scenes work.
And it seemed he thought that because he wasn’t trustworthy enough, we hadn’t shared group matters with him.
I found myself reviewing Sun Ah-hyun’s recent actions and barely suppressed a laugh.
‘So… that’s why he was so eager to participate in those initiatives.’
Now the puzzle pieces fit perfectly.
‘Damn it.’
Everything was twisted.
I pressed down hard with the hand I’d been about to use to rub my brow.
‘This is my fault for being so absorbed.’
Because incidents kept erupting with this secret—from Ryu Chung-woo to Big Sae-jin—my mind had fixated on that direction.
If he wanted to hear something from me, it would naturally be about my secret.
“….”
Right. So if that’s the case, then logically… there’s no need to bring up my true identity to Sun Ah-hyun.
‘He doesn’t even suspect.’
I could just throw out something about the Label or media issues and gloss over it with a decent lie.
Sun Ah-hyun would accept that.
‘…But is that really okay?’
I clenched my fist.
Then every time I handle system-related matters going forward, I’ll have to exclude him again, and wouldn’t that make him feel even more betrayed?
If that’s the case, I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.
‘At that point, I’d have no excuse even if he hit me for deceiving him.’
It would be cleaner to simply say it’s a personal matter, not a work-related one, that I can’t discuss. We both had misunderstandings anyway.
Sun Ah-hyun might feel a bit hurt, but at least the matter would be settled there.
‘…The problem is.’
I… don’t want to do that.
It’s ridiculous, but.
“….”
I opened my mouth, acting half on impulse.
“That wasn’t a work issue. I never thought you were bad at your job in the first place.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just my problem.”
I swallowed. For some reason, my mood lifted slightly.
“I wasn’t originally Park Moon-dae. I’ve just been living as him.”
“…??”
“I couldn’t exactly go around broadcasting that, so I kept it quiet.”
“…Huh?”
I began explaining the situation to Sun Ah-hyun the same way I had to Big Sae-jin—laying out everything that had happened.
“A few years ago, I woke up and realized I was in someone else’s body.”
Even so, having said it once before, the words came out more organized this time….
‘…This really isn’t something you should be doing in a sober state of mind.’
“So to my eyes, it’s like a kind of hologram….”
“Pffft!”
“…Laugh one more time and you’re out of here.”
“Huh? But this is my room, so Park Moon-dae should be the one leaving… I’m sorry. That doll was a gift from a fan, Park Moon-dae. Please exercise some restraint.”
There were several critical moments where I desperately needed a drink, but I managed to hit the main points and get through it safely.
‘I’ll talk about Gold 2 or Chung-ryeo later if it becomes necessary.’
There was no point in laying out such a complex and varied story to someone who hadn’t even been given a hint about any of it.
With a few supplementary explanations from Big Sae-jin, I finished my account.
“…So right now, I’m just doing fine.”
“….”
I’d finished, but… there was no response.
I opened my mouth again, somewhat urgently.
“It was such an unrealistic story that I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Plus, this guy had already half-figured it out anyway.”
“That’s right. I’m so perceptive, you know? Park Moon-dae didn’t want to tell anyone, but honestly, I figured it all out myself?”
“….”
When I looked up, I saw Sun Ah-hyun’s blank expression.
He glanced back and forth between me and Big Sae-jin a few times, then lowered his gaze slightly.
“…I, I see.”
“Yeah.”
And silence fell.
“….”
“….”
Longer than I expected.
‘…Why.’
He wasn’t even asking questions.
By the time cold sweat began beading on the back of my neck.
Sun Ah-hyun finally spoke again.
But he wasn’t addressing me.
It was Big Sae-jin.
“…Um, hey. You’ve already heard this whole story before, right…?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t that long ago… less than a few months.”
“H-how… did you feel about it? When you first heard?”
“Hm?”
Big Sae-jin shrugged his shoulders.
“Park Moon-dae wouldn’t have any reason to lie about something like this, right?”
“…!”
“I’ve been watching Park Moon-dae all this time… so I just figured it must be true.”
“….”
At Big Sae-jin’s words, Sun Ah-hyun lowered his head again.
‘What’s he thinking?’
Why isn’t he asking me any questions about the details? I mean, it’s certainly shocking information, but…
I bit my tongue.
‘Stop overthinking this for no reason.’
It’s natural that he’d be curious about what the guy who heard it first is thinking.
Still…
I opened and closed my fists a few times before finally letting them drop and opening my mouth.
“If it’s hard to believe….”
But that sentence never finished.
Because Sun Ah-hyun answered first.
“…Ah, no. I believe you.”
“…!”
He lifted his head and smiled faintly with a somewhat weary expression.
“Yeah…. Right, that’s right. I naturally know that Park Moon-dae isn’t the kind of person to lie about something like this.”
“….”
“It must have been… hard. Park Moon-dae. All this time…. You’ve been through so much.”
For some reason, my words got stuck.
Only after clearing my throat several times could I answer calmly.
“That’s why you’ve earned a lot of money and things worked out well. So it’s fine.”
“Mm….”
Sun Ah-hyun answered quietly.
“Still… if it ever gets hard, tell me, okay?”
“Park Moon-dae must feel so reassured, right? You’ve got two backups~ Oh, Chung-woo hyung knows a bit too.”
“…W-wait, Chung-woo hyung too…?”
“Ah, that hyung has some family circumstances….”
I confirmed that Sun Ah-hyun was listening intently to Big Sae-jin’s explanation.
Focus had returned to his face.
“….”
Did it… end okay?
Big Sae-jin finished his explanation with a playful remark.
“We’ve been the same age since Ajusa, so it’s funny. In the end, only the two of us know everything about Park Moon-dae’s situation~ Do well, Park Moon-dae.”
I ended up laughing too. And after thinking about it for a moment, I extended my hand to Sun Ah-hyun.
“Yeah, I’m counting on you, Ah-hyun.”
Sun Ah-hyun grasped my hand with fingers that trembled slightly.
It was cool to the touch, but there was strength in it.
“…Mm!”
And in that response, what I saw in his eyes was unmistakably joy.
That was enough.
The next day, Sun Ah-hyun’s attitude hadn’t changed in any particular way, and I… seemed somewhat relieved.

* * *
And a few days later.
A somewhat unique schedule came up.
“Hmm, so tomorrow is when we go to Yeon-hee University.”
“Oh!”
It was a university festival schedule that had come around for the first time in nearly two years.
Last year my market value skyrocketed, but since debut I’ve consistently attended once a year.
Coming from Ajusa with a debut track that performed well in streams, I’d achieved enough public recognition that ordinary college students could listen to and enjoy my music.
And university festival performances were quite fun events, so the reactions had always been decent.
“Oh~ It’s been a while. This should be fun, right?”
“Right. That’s an outdoor concert hall, isn’t it?”
Thanks to that, the conversation started this way, and after a few minutes it drifted into talk about the university itself. Well, that’s always how it goes when you’re chatting in the car.
“…I’d like to audit classes there if I get the chance later.”
“I see. I don’t regret completing my cyber university degree to balance it with work, but I do have curiosity about other options.”
And Cha Yu-jin shrugged his shoulders.
“I came to South Korea on a scholarship! That’s really amazing!”
“Wow.”
“That really is incredible.”
No one could argue with that. Kim Rae-bin was nodding his head too.
“Why did you do that?”
“Well, dancing is fun, you know? [I just wanted to do it, that’s all.]”
And since it worked out so well, it’s hard to fault him for using up the scholarship.
I mean, I scraped by maintaining my own scholarship while making a living as a data seller, and I ended up in a profession completely unrelated to my major anyway.
“Hyung! Did you ever think about going to university?”
“Not really.”
I didn’t want to go twice if I could help it.
As that thought crossed my mind, something came to me—something that would force me to go twice, something that might actually happen as a current student this time—but I set that aside for now.
‘Sigh….’
I envied the gold medalist and the foreigner.
“OK~ Let’s just look around our campus! We can do it if we’re sneaky!”
“Well… if time permits.”
As I listened to Cha Yu-jin’s ridiculous suggestion, I checked the university festival on the schedule list with quite a peculiar feeling.
There was only one reason.
“Moon-dae, Moon-dae—this is your alma mater, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Big Sae-jin spoke in a hushed tone once Cha Yu-jin stopped tapping my shoulder from the back seat.
This was indeed the university I’d attended.
‘Is this my first time here in this body?’
There’d been no particular reason to come here before.
Besides, our agency handled university events by simply offering higher fees and filling slots on a first-come, first-served basis with venues close to other scheduled appearances.
But this time, it seemed this school had offered the most money, and offered it quickly.
‘The kids are really raking in that tuition money.’
Rich kids like these kept raising tuition every single year.
I raised my eyebrows and flipped through the schedule. Big Sae-jin, still holding onto me, leaned over and spoke in hushed tones to Sun Ah-hyun, who’d deliberately sat across from us.
“Ah-hyun, Ah-hyun—apparently Moon-dae went to this university.”
“…Oh. I see.”
Sun Ah-hyun asked me carefully.
“How are you feeling…?”
“…Well, it’s just whatever.”
I let out a small laugh.
“It’s been a long time since I graduated, and they’ve completely renovated the campus anyway, so honestly, I’m not feeling much nostalgia.”
Big Sae-jin snickered.
“Understood, hyung.”
“….”
Cut it out, you bastard.
“Krkrkr….”
I held back a sigh as I heard Big Sae-jin’s shoulders trembling as he stifled his laughter. Sun Ah-hyun laughed awkwardly.
‘Well… anyway, all that matters is nailing the performance.’
It was a rare South Korea event. I cracked my neck.
Our role was the closing act.
If time permitted, we could do several encores from that position.
‘Though it doesn’t seem like we’ll have that much extra time.’
But as always, the world never quite unfolded as expected.

—————

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

—————