Debut or Die - Chapter 78

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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 78
Park Moon-dae beside her was already looking at her with a faint smile.
“Hello.”
“…!!”
A conversation! My first up-close conversation with Park Moon-dae!
‘Gasp.’
The sudden surge of tension that swept through me made my mouth open half a beat too late, despite how smoothly I’d been speaking just moments before.
Years of fan-signing experience were utterly useless….
“Oh, hey. Moon-dae.”
“Mm, noona?”
“…!”
‘Insane!’
A complex tangle of emotions seized me—wanting to slap myself for dropping into casual speech so abruptly, yet wanting to praise myself for being called noona.
“That’s right!”
“Nice to meet you. …Would you like this?”
“…!?”
Park Moon-dae quickly pulled something out from under the table and offered it to me.
…It was a lollipop.
And not just some mass-produced convenience store product either. It had a cute little animal charm attached to it, oversized and adorable, with the unmistakable aroma of a specialty shop.
“You’re… giving this to me…?”
“Yes. I thought it was delicious.”
“….”
Regardless of whether it matched the character concept or not, tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.
‘Why, why are you giving this to me….’
Park Moon-dae probably hadn’t even received his settlement yet, so he shouldn’t have had any money—how could he have prepared something like this?
‘It must have cost him something to buy a hundred of these….’
I was on the verge of getting lost in emotion while holding the candy, but fortunately Park Moon-dae didn’t give me a moment to breathe before speaking again.
“Is that yours?”
“Huh? Uh, um… yeah!”
I realized I had reflexively pulled out the crown item for Park Moon-dae’s turn.
‘I had even written out a conversation asking him to wear the crown instead of the chicken feet in his self-introduction video….’
There was no need for that. Park Moon-dae immediately grabbed the crown and cheerfully placed it on his own head.
“…!”
“…Noona, should we take a photo? Don’t worry—I’ll keep wearing it.”
Park Moon-dae signed an autograph for me, who was standing there dumbfounded.
“What’s your name?”
“Uh…. My name.”
Home Ma, caught off guard by the unexpected situation, only realized after the autograph was done that she’d blurted out her real name instead of her account name.
‘I was planning to get his autograph with my account name…!’
But even that thought evaporated at Park Moon-dae’s next words.
“Thank you so much for coming. I wish I had a more entertaining personality, but I’m not really good at talking… Is there anything you’d like to know?”
“Oh, well…”
No, Park Moon-dae! Your personality is plenty entertaining!
I wanted to say that, but as I watched the staff member approaching to call out “Let’s move on,” I reflexively asked quickly.
I’d witnessed the staff member being relentlessly strict about the schedule.
“By the way, what’s your MBTI?”
“I’ve never done that before, so I don’t know. I’ll take the test and let you know.”
With that fruitless exchange over, I was forced away from the table by the staff member’s gesture…
Or rather, I should have been forced away…?
“Just a moment.”
I was still sitting at the table.
Park Moon-dae was deliberately holding down my album with one hand, refusing to let go!
‘Oh, oh, oh…’
Park Moon-dae asked again as if nothing had happened.
“Since I couldn’t answer that earlier, let’s call it void. Is there anything else you’re curious about?”
My brain spun instantly. It was part of the conversation log I’d originally prepared.
‘Park Moon-dae, we met when you were wearing that Corgi costume doing that advertisement verification thing—do you remember?!’
But my mouth… moved faithfully to instinct and public interest.
“Um, um, besides chicken feet, if you had to pick one food you really like, what would it be? I know you eat everything well!”
Park Moon-dae chuckled.
“I like all chicken.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll buy you some next time. What do you like, noona? Chicken feet?”
Wait, didn’t he just say he’d buy something? And was that chicken feet comment just teasing me? Oh no.
But since time was running out, I hurriedly gave my answer.
“I like chicken too!”
“Looks like we have similar tastes. That’s nice.”
The rest of what I was about to say—’and I like Park Moon-dae even more’—was swept away by his warm response.
All my prepared fanservice was blocked by the idol’s preemptive strike…
“Let’s move on!”
“Okay.”
At the staff member’s second attempt, this time Park Moon-dae obediently sent the album to the fan.
I barely came to my senses and extended my hand, crying out with full sincerity.
“A handshake!”
“Oh.”
Park Moon-dae immediately raised his hand and interlaced our fingers instead of shaking hands. Then he smiled and shook gently.
“…!”
“Take care on your way out.”
“…Uh, yeah.”
Unbelievable.
Good heavens…!
She shuffled back to her seat, collapsed into it, and let her mind wander.
‘He’s insane. Seriously….’
How could he be so composed and attentive?
His vocal projection was so good that conversation flowed naturally without him having to raise his voice.
‘I knew he’d put in effort for his first fan sign, but not like this! Not to this degree!’
All her mental preparation for Park Moon-dae being the aloof type had been utterly pointless…!
She wanted to abandon everything and howl, but instead, with superhuman restraint, she picked up her camera.
‘I’m getting the best shot of him in that flower crown, no matter what.’
Her competitive spirit ignited. She manipulated the camera with unwavering focus.
Through the viewfinder, Park Moon-dae appeared wearing the flower crown.
Somewhere along the way, he’d also donned rabbit ears—a standard fan sign event prop—and the perky white ears stood proudly above the yellow flowers.
“Oh!”
It suits him perfectly!
Next, Park Moon-dae received a fluffy plushie that looked just like him. Home Ma’s eyes instantly calculated its dimensions with predatory precision.
‘About 20 centimeters, handmade.’
He hesitated for a moment, considering placement, but the plushie soon settled on his shoulder.
So cute!
All three items looked absolutely perfect on him. Fans with cameras all around called out his name, urging him to look their way.
“Moon-dae!”
“Moon-dae!”
“Park Moon-dae, over here!”
Park Moon-dae used the brief moment while the next fan approached with their album to uncannily locate her camera and make eye contact. It was the kind of instinct only a seasoned professional possessed.
‘Wow.’
But that moment passed in an instant.
Home Ma only realized why after watching a few fans receive signatures—she’d been amazed by his accuracy in finding her camera.
‘He’s maximizing every second….’
He’d stubbornly stretched out every spare moment for each fan until the next person’s turn, ensuring no time was wasted.
It was clearly a deliberate choice, considering he was the last in line.
‘My Moon-dae was born under the star of idoldom…. I won’t hear any arguments….’
Home Ma was moved by his professionalism—the kind required for a lifetime career in entertainment.
Through the viewfinder, Park Moon-dae was now catching fake money and tossing it around. Watching him amid the scattered bills made her want to stuff real cash in every pocket of his clothes.
‘He should never retire. He should walk the money road forever.’
She watched warmly as Big Sae-jin and Park Moon-dae threw the fake money that had fallen on the table at each other.
Then the problem occurred.
The next fan who came up for Park Moon-dae’s signature held out a yellow Welsh corgi hat.
‘Time for a change, I guess.’
It was a shame, but she’d captured enough shots of the flower crown. She licked her lips and waited for him to put on the corgi hat.
As expected, Park Moon-dae removed the flower crown and rabbit ears, then put on the hat.
But it didn’t end there.
Park Moon-dae waited until enough time had passed for several shots of him wearing the hat, then reinstalled the flower crown and rabbit ears on top of it.
“…!!”
In that instant, Home Ma’s mind echoed with Moon-dae’s words.
-I’ll keep wearing them, so don’t worry.
…And true to his word, Park Moon-dae didn’t remove a single item until the fan sign event ended.

* * *
“….”
“…sigh.”
The car was silent as we drove away from the fan sign event. Everyone was exhausted from talking non-stop with a hundred people.
Thanks to that, I could finally check the Internet in peace. I let out a small sigh.
‘…Well, I did everything I could.’
Though I couldn’t in good conscience claim I only spent 100,000 won per minute.
I briefly recalled a few people.
-Is it okay if I poke your cheek…?
-Moon-dae, do three aegyo moves! Quickly!
-Would it be alright if I put this on you!?
-A morning call! Could you just give me one morning call?
Most of them were requests I’d anticipated through prior research. Thanks to that, I managed to get through without panicking.
‘It was a bit embarrassing… but manageable.’
Occasionally someone came up who didn’t seem to like Park Moon-dae much and tried to provoke me, but that went fine too.
It’s not like they tried to smash my face in with their fists.
Rather, the people who paid to come kept trying to impress Park Moon-dae in return, which caught me off guard more.
‘The ones paying are going out of their way…?’
I reflexively recalled the student who came in a Welsh corgi costume and made an acrostic poem with “Park Moon-dae,” then suddenly remembered what I was supposed to be doing. Response monitoring.
“Right.”
Let me turn on my smartphone.
First… Testa’s first fan sign event made it to the real-time trending topics on SNS.
‘I expected this to some degree.’
It was private, but so many people were interested that posts were going up in real-time like a live broadcast.
-The guys’ fan sign responses are insane, they talked way more than me;; I got completely exposed to Cha Yu-jin
-I never thought the day would come when I’d say “Really?” instead of the members…
-Ah, Testa, everyone was really nervous haha. It’s so cute! (short greeting video)
-Who gave the monocle to Ahyun?
Just thank you, may your three generations be blessed (photo)
-Go see Cheongwoo in his robe. He needs to appear as the crown prince in a historical drama right away. (Photo)
Most people were delighted with the good atmosphere of the first fan sign event, and those who couldn’t attend were disappointed but excited about the real-time tidbits.
‘The suggestion to ban sticky notes turned out to be a good call.’
Since Ajusa had many viewers, the group’s attention level was naturally high.
It was right not to give anyone the chance to manipulate things and post them on their own.
‘Thanks to that, there aren’t any pointless rumors floating around.’
Instead, what I did became quite the hot topic, trending independently.
[#6 Park Moon-dae’s Trick Parade]
…Let me check out the post with the most likes.
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Oh my gosh everyone, check out Moon Dang-dang’s tricks! The fans gave her something and she’s stacking it on top of her head like a tower haha so cute!
I wonder if this is the material of a dog that is completely attached to its own things. (Photo)
========================
A photo montage of Park Moon-dae continuously stacking various props on his head and body throughout the fan sign event caught my eye immediately.
‘…By the end, it looked like I had about five things piled on top of each other.’
Somehow it didn’t collapse.
I was a bit regretful about being so conscious of the 1.32 million won that I even pulled off this unnecessary stunt, but at least it got a laugh. That’s a relief.
Hmm, let me check out more of the popular reviews related to this.
-Park Moon-dae is seriously insane wow the staff told him to move on but he kept holding hands with me the whole time wow I almost proposed
-Did I tell you that Moon Dae even chose my dinner together? I thought you were really our dog.
-Fan sign review (7) Last one with Moon-dae!
We decided to grant the wish of the person who won rock-paper-scissors, but I lost. But Mundae took a quick look and changed his own to lose ㅠㅠ My heart dropped.
I gave Mun-dae… a fluffy cotton ball… it was the best moment of this year… Mun-dae was amazed saying it was so soft… and took it with their own hands… aaaah (photo)
“….”
That… pom-pom doll, since it felt nice to the touch and I kept squeezing it like a stress ball, I ended up bringing it along without thinking. It’s safely in my bag now.
For some reason, I felt oddly conflicted.
‘Shouldn’t the person who received it be moved?’
Why was the person who made and gave the gift the one getting emotional?
Anyway, since it was something to be grateful for, I thanked them and moved on to the next post. It was the one with the most shares.
-Ah, since it was Mundae’s first fan signing, I prepared candy according to the number of people. No, when our dog grows up, we even get things like this. My older sister keeps it as an heirloom! (picture)
‘…I brought some snacks just in case they’d get bored sitting around after the signing ended.’
Somehow no one even ate them.
Anyway, it was nice that they were happy, but the problem was the comment that just appeared below it.
└Ah.. I was wondering what he gave out with all that fuss, but it was just candy? I thought he gave something amazing…
└? Do you know him?
“No, but it’s such a shame, so I’m commenting anyway haha. You must have spent a huge amount of money buying stocks, and yet you’re so moved by an idol with terrible value-for-money who only gave you a single piece of candy… Please take care of your self-esteem!”
└All kinds of weird people showing up; blocking you~
‘Hmm.’
I manipulated the tab and browsed around the Internet.
Upon checking, anonymous accounts that looked similar were starting to leave nonsensical comments on every popular post in the Online Community. Based on the timing, it felt almost organized.
-Does it feel a bit selfish to just me? It’s his first fan sign and only he prepared something like that among the members;
-It feels sketchy that he’s being so cost-conscious with just lollipops, makes me wonder if he’s mocking the fans
-They only gave it to the people who came to the fansign, right? Haha, they came out and stratified fans in order of who spent the money… haha
-What’s the point of stacking fan sign items like that? It’s not even pretty… He just debuted at #1 but his actual popularity within the team isn’t matching that, so it feels like he’s really conscious about it
I knew this would happen.
‘How do these bastards always follow the same pattern?’
It seemed they’d noticed that crude language didn’t land as well now that the hellish Ajusa auditions were over, so they were scratching away more carefully, watching their words.
In truth, with the auditions already finished, I could simply ignore these types.
But it became a problem when people who’d been entertained started losing interest.
‘I need to handle this quickly.’
I clicked my tongue and opened Testa’s SNS.

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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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