The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut - Chapter 54

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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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The Gate Burst Open on My Debut Day (54)
“To Hongdae Entrance Station, please.”
Yoo Sung and Okada climbed into the taxi, following Kim Chowol without any explanation.
Kim Chowol either didn’t notice the questioning gazes from Yoo Sung and Okada, or he was deliberately ignoring them—he kept his eyes fixed on his phone the entire ride.
“Thank you.”
The moment the taxi pulled up to Hongdae Entrance Station, Kim Chowol smoothly handled the payment.
Yoo Sung glanced at the meter and felt a slight jolt at the fare.
But Kim Chowol simply shrugged, as if the amount meant nothing to him.
“Late-night surcharge—can’t be helped.”
Kim Chowol swung a paper bag—where he’d gotten it from was a mystery—and headed into Hongdae Entrance Station.
‘A paper bag?’
It was clearly empty, so why had he brought an empty paper bag along?
Yoo Sung tilted his head in confusion and followed Kim Chowol.
Since the last train had stopped running, the usually bustling Hongdae Entrance Station was eerily quiet in the early morning hours.
―Tap, tap, tap
The footsteps of Kim Chowol, Yoo Sung, and Okada echoed through the station.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Yoo Sung grew slightly irritated and called Kim Chowol to a halt.
“Hey, don’t you think it’s about time you explained? Why did we even come to Hongdae Entrance Station….”
“Look.”
“What? Look at what….”
Upon reaching the interior of the station, Kim Chowol suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Yoo Sung, who had been irritated moments before, fell silent as he took in the dazzling advertisements covering the station walls.
“This is….”
As if enchanted, Yoo Sung approached the nearest advertisement.
[The brightest star in the universe, Yoo Sung—please cast your precious vote!]
Was this… a photo from the Production Presentation?
Yoo Sung stared blankly at his own enormous image, lost in thought.
“How much longer are you going to stand there gawking?”
Kim Chowol, who had quietly moved up beside him, tapped Yoo Sung’s shoulder and asked.
“What’s got you in such a rush?”
Yoo Sung grumbled and spun around to face Kim Chowol.
But Kim Chowol simply shrugged and pointed toward another advertisement behind them.
“Why do you keep… huh?”
Following the direction of Kim Chowol’s finger, Yoo Sung spotted a familiar face.
“Did you think you only had one advertisement?”
Distracted by the first one, he hadn’t noticed—but there was another advertisement of Yoo Sung nearby.
Yoo Sung, finally coming to his senses, surveyed the entire interior of the station.
Most of the advertisements featured trainees from the EX-Grade K-POP Idol broadcast.
‘Our show was this popular…?’
While Yoo Sung was realizing the massive popularity of the EX-Grade K-POP Idol program, Okada was carefully examining the sticky notes attached to her own advertisement.
[Hiro, you have to debut for sure!]
[Our Hiro who always does her best, we’ll support you forever!]
[Japan’s treasure comes to Korea ❤ Okada Hiro, you absolutely have to debut]
The colorful sticky notes were written in a variety of languages, both Korean and Japanese.
“How is it?”
Kim Chowol, who had approached without a sound, tapped Okada’s shoulder and asked.
Okada, who had been silent for a while, finally answered after moving her lips a few times.
“I… I didn’t know.”
“Huh?”
[I had no idea that so many people were supporting me like this…]
Okada’s expression, which had been touching the edge of the sticky notes with a bewildered look, suddenly darkened.
Kim Chowol, noticing the change in Okada’s expression, asked carefully.
“Why?”
[I’m just a hopeless piece of trash…]
“What, what? What are you talking about?”
Kim Chowol, flustered, watched Okada’s expression nervously.
[I ruined the stage.]
Only then did Kim Chowol realize that Okada was blaming herself for today’s stage performance.
Since it was past midnight, it must have been yesterday’s stage… anyway.
“Why is that your fault? If anything, it’s… it’s hard to say it’s just one person’s problem.”
Kim Chowol honestly wanted to blame Jung Yoo-yeol.
But if you traced the root cause, the problem was another team member who lacked skill but didn’t want to practice.
“Anyway, don’t blame yourself. No one will say it’s your fault. When the broadcast airs, it’ll actually…”
As Kim Chowol trailed off, Okada, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head.
“Chowol?”
“No, what I’m trying to say is… don’t blame yourself. Just do well at the next stage.”
“Yes…”
Okada nodded weakly.
Kim Chowol gently patted Okada’s shoulder encouragingly, then turned to leave.
“Sigh…”
Okada, watching Kim Chowol’s retreating back, turned her gaze back to the sticky notes.
If she had truly lacked the skill to ruin the stage, she wouldn’t have been this troubled.
But Okada could have done better. She knew it.
‘Why am I pretending I can’t do it?’
Jung Yoo-yeol’s voice continued to echo in her ears.
‘Don’t pretend you can’t do it on purpose. Actually, you can… but on that stage, do it with all your heart.’
As Jung Yoo-yeol’s voice faded, this time Kim Chowol’s voice came to her.
The person who cares for her more than anyone, the person she relies on.
‘I’m sorry, Chowol.’
I couldn’t do it with all my heart even on that stage.
Unable to deliver an apology that would never reach Kim Chowol, Okada began reading the sticky note again.
[We’re always on Hiro’s side!]
Even if Okada told Kim Chowol everything honestly, he would comfort and encourage her.
‘But I can’t keep acting spoiled with him forever.’
Unless something unexpected happened, Kim Chowol had a high probability of debuting in EX-Grade K-POP Idol.
But Okada was different.
At the first ranking announcement, Okada’s rank was twelfth.
It was higher than expected, but one careless mistake could send her plummeting down the rankings.
‘If I keep acting spoiled like this, I might not even debut.’
And eventually, I’d end up returning to Japan alone.
A sudden chill ran down Okada’s spine, and she shuddered.
‘I need to stop being spoiled and work hard… I have to debut together with him no matter what.’
Reading the encouragement message written on the sticky note, Okada steeled her resolve and clenched both fists tightly.
“Oppa, I’m done looking… Oppa?”
After carefully checking the sticky notes attached to the advertisement, Okada found Kim Chowol.
Kim Chowol was standing a little distance away, gazing at his own advertisement.
“Oppa, what are you… Oppa! You can’t do that!”
Okada was startled by what Kim Chowol was doing.
For the first time, Okada—who always trusted and relied on Kim Chowol—stopped him from doing something.
You can’t peel off the sticky notes!
It was because Kim Chowol was trying to remove the sticky notes that fans had left for him!
* * *
Whenever I grew tired and weary from the endless regressions, I came to see my advertisement hanging in the subway station.
Standing blankly before my advertisement in the quiet station after the last train had departed, my heart would flutter pleasantly.
I recalled the first time I came to see my subway station advertisement.
‘I knew nothing back then… I came during the day and couldn’t even get a proper look before fleeing.’
While I enjoyed meeting fans, I began avoiding daytime hours to prevent causing trouble to others.
‘And besides, it’s better to read the encouragement messages in a quiet place.’
Seeing my advertisement was nice, but the encouragement messages fans had written were far more entertaining.
‘Hmm, I’ve seen this sticky note in previous loops… but that handwriting is new.’
As I traced through past memories while reading the encouragement messages, time would slip away.
However, the more people who supported me, the more my advertisements multiplied, and the number of sticky notes grew exponentially.
No matter how much I carved out time, it was impossible to read every advertisement and sticky note.
‘It’s a shame. I wish I could read them all….’
As I pondered how to manage this, I eventually began collecting the sticky notes.
At first, I hesitated—was it really okay to take them?
But when I got caught once, the fans’ reaction wasn’t negative, so I could collect them without guilt.
You can’t peel off the sticky notes!
So I was a bit flustered by Okada’s reaction.
How was I supposed to explain this?
“It… should be fine?”
I got caught once before, and they didn’t seem to mind whether I took them or not.
Actually, they seemed to like it.
“It’s like fan mail. The fans would probably be happy if we took them.”
“But we should still ask for permission. The fans put them up for us.”
“Hmm….”
Okada had a point, and I found myself at a loss for words.
“But… we don’t have time.”
I added carefully, as if making an excuse.
“If I could come whenever I wanted to see them, I wouldn’t bother taking them. But with the filming schedule, I don’t have time to visit.”
As I deliberately slumped my shoulders while speaking, Okada, who had been looking at me with a firm expression just moments before, held her breath for a moment.
“If I take them and make a scrapbook or something, I can look at them anytime. That’s why I want to take them.”
“Hmm….”
While Okada was deliberating, I unfolded the paper bag I’d brought and skillfully began placing the sticky notes inside.
Okada watched with a complicated expression as I collected the sticky notes.
“Want one too?”
“Huh?”
“A paper bag.”
I chuckled and pulled out another paper bag from inside the one I was holding.
“Yes… oh, no, that’s not… it’s okay, I don’t need one.”
Okada, who had answered as if entranced, quickly came to her senses and shook her head.
“I brought several, so it’s fine.”
I forcibly thrust the paper bag into Okada’s arms.
Okada laughed sheepishly and began collecting sticky notes alongside me.
‘This guy could just admit he wants to take them, and nobody would say anything.’
After confirming that Okada was carefully peeling off the sticky notes, I turned my attention back to my advertisement.
“Hey, give me one too.”
“Here.”
Yoo Sung, who had finished looking around the advertisement, joined in on collecting the sticky notes.
We peeled off the sticky notes from the advertisement in silence for quite some time.
“W-who are you people?”
Lost in collecting sticky notes, an unfamiliar female voice suddenly rang out through the station.
Like elementary school students caught doing something wrong, Yoo Sung, Okada, and I jumped in surprise.
An unfamiliar woman was staring at us with a bewildered expression.
“Oh, um… I’m so sorry! We’ll come back before the advertisement ends and remove them separately, so could you please leave them as they are?”
The woman spoke nervously, apparently having misunderstood something.
“That….”
“I’m really sorry! Please, just this once, could you please understand… huh…?”
The woman, who had been approaching to apologize, suddenly froze and stared intently at my face.
Yoo Sung, Okada, and I couldn’t say anything and stood completely rigid.
The female fan’s eyes widened progressively, and with trembling fingers pointing at me, she spoke.
“Could it be… Kim Chowol?”

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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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