Debut or Die
chapter-118

The SBC Music Awards Festival was over.

Afterward, I had been sleeping in the car all morning due to schedule problems, but my condition had been the best in the past few months.

This was because the manager told me about all the current public opinion as soon as the broadcast was over.

– It’s all flipped over!

The members’ expressions at that time were worth seeing.

Anyway, after that, everyone seemed to have slept soundly even though they were in the car.

Thanks to this, I was able to tolerate the fact that I was the only one not staying in the dorm because the company called me this morning.

But I had no reason to be concerned about why they called me.

‘Well, looking at their expression, it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing.’

I wondered if I had a new personal schedule.

And as soon as I entered the back porch of the company building, I could see the reason they called me.

A lot of boxes were piled up so much that the small porch for the staff burst open.

All of them were carefully packaged with ribbons… They were gift boxes.

It was similar to the one I saw at the entrance of the dorm on my last holiday, but on a much larger scale.

‘Huh?’

Hold on.

One of the employees I was with laughed and said.

“Moondae-ssi, it’s your birthday present ~”

“…!”

…I see.

Today was December 15th.

It was Park Moondae’s birthday.

‘…I couldn’t even guess.’

I completely forgot about it because I lost my sense of time due to the endless repetition of schedules and practice.

I didn’t even notice it because I recently didn’t check SNS on purpose.

‘…It’s not even my birthday in the first place.’

No, even before I entered Park Moondae’s body… It was rare to have a special birthday.

‘I just cooked rice and ate it with expensive ingredients.’

Thanks to this, seeing the gift boxes that filled the two walls, my feet stiffened.

This is all for me?

“I think it would be difficult to leave it at the dorm… Moondae-ssi’s family home… Um..”

Perhaps recalling Park Moondae’s family history while talking, the employee rapidly pulled back.

And kindly corrected again.

“Should we put it in the company’s storage room for now? Electronic devices and luxury items will be sent to the dorm. You can go ahead and try it out.”

“…Did the people who brought this say anything?”

Looking at it closely, there were three or four different types of packaging, so it seemed they were put in separately.

‘At least one or two groups would have tried to deliver it directly…’

“Ah, they used a professional delivery company. I got a call about the delivery the day before yesterday.”

The employee shrugged.

“And I think they requested to tell Moondae-ssi that he doesn’t have to verify them… Right. They said that.”

“…!”

Then I realized the situation.

‘…They delivered it quietly on purpose.’

The day before yesterday, I was in the midst of stumbling down and betting on Testar’s Rookie of the Year Award on the Internet.

If it hadn’t been for the all-out war on SBC yesterday, of course, the situation would have been the same now.

In that atmosphere, they must have been worried that I would get in trouble again if I confirmed I had received such large gifts of support.

‘They were conscious of that, so they couldn’t even come to see me in person…’

It felt strange.

It was strange that there were people who cared and put in so much effort for someone who they couldn’t even interact properly with.

The fact that the target was me was really… strange.

“Aren’t you going to open it? Should we just move them to the storage room?”

“…Wait a minute.”

Then I moved to approach the boxes.

I saw boxes packaged in the same wrapping paper over the printed frame of my photos and the ribbons tied to the brand shopping bags.

A tag was attached to each packaging ribbon.

“…”

Numerous clothes, electronic devices, and accessories were visible on each tag.

‘…What should I do?’

I was almost overwhelmed. I didn’t know what was the standard for the gifts that I should take to the dorm first.

‘…First of all, it should be easy to verify, only have three pieces for each wrapping paper design…’

As I was contemplating, a tag caught my eye.

It was a tag attached to a box that was relatively smaller than others.

[Message book]

“…”

I hesitated, then lifted the box and unwrapped it.

A golden hardcover book that seemed to have been handcrafted was revealed.

<You came down to my heart like a shooting star>

When I opened the hardcover book, edited sentences were revealed in a neat design.

– I knew it the moment I saw the performance of <To a New World>. That fellow is my idol!ㅎㅎ

I always do my best and cheer for Moondae who continues to grow. But even if you don’t grow, that’s okay. I will always support Moondae’s happiness♡

– My star that I want to see for a long time

– My insomnia disappeared after I met Moondae! Just looking at you makes me happy and thinking about you makes my heart flutter… I love you forever

– I’m thankful and sorry for Moondae who always cares about his fans no matter whatㅠㅠ Let’s do whatever we want to do. Moondae, it’s fine to do that!

Between the long lines of text, restrained sentences sprung out. It seemed that even a refined heart was squeezed out.

– Noona still hasn’t forgotten Tibetan fox Moondae… I love Puppy Moondae, but I also love Tibetan Moondaeㅠ

“Haha.”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

Really… They were unusual people. It was unbelievable kindness.

Of course, emotions didn’t last forever. These people also use words like ‘always, for a long time, forever’, but they knew that it was impossible for them as long as they were human.

But at this moment, I felt overwhelmed just by the fact that there were people who thought of me like that somewhere.

I wanted to do something.

“…”

“Moondae-ssi?”

“…Ah, I’m sorry.”

I barely came to my senses. And I quickly packed some gift boxes.

As planned, ….No, a little more than I planned.

“…Can you take them to the dorm?”

“I have a car. It’s all right.”

I was accompanied by the manager. By now, he must be buying drinks or smoking in the lobby in front of the building.

“Mm… I see. Have a safe trip home. Happy birthday!”

“Thank you.”

I headed to the parking lot with my hands full of presents.

The manager I met halfway freaked out.

“Did you bring it all by yourself?! You should have called me!”

“It’s fine. It was nearby.”

“Sigh… Anyway, congratulations on your presents. Happy birthday. Can I buy you coffee?”

“Next time.”

“Oh, you’re not refusing.”

I just laughed. I felt light-headed as if there was a whirlwind in my head.

“Enter safely~”

“Yes, thank you.”

I parted with the manager in front of the dorm. Then, I packed up my presents and went up to the dorm.

And the moment I got off the elevator.

I smelled a strange scent in front of the door.

“…?”

Isn’t this the smell of something burning?

‘No way.’

I piled up the presents on one side of the hallway and immediately unlocked the front door.

Then, after opening the fire hydrant, I opened the door.

“…?!”

“No!”

…And I witnessed Cha Eugene and Seon Ahyeon running through the living room with a pot.

Smoke was rising from the pot.

I asked with difficulty.

“…What are you doing?”

“M-Moondae! I-It’s nothing…”

“Chicken soup for the soul!”

Cha Eugene shouted and took the pot back to the kitchen and started running away.

A terrible silence began to trickle from Seon Ahyeon, who was unexpectedly left in the living room.

“…”

“…”

“…B-Birthday… C-Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

I’m grateful for the congratulation, but I’d like to hear an explanation of what the hell is going on.

* * *

“…Birthday present?”

“Yes!”

“N-No… I-I have a separate gift! T-That one was just to say thank you…”

“I have more presents, too.”

Listening to Cha Eugene and Seon Ahyeon talking, nothing was sorted out.

It seemed those two couldn’t communicate well between themselves either.

The other members, who instantly woke up in the middle of the pot commotion, tried to clean it up.

“So, since it’s Moondae’s birthday and you guys have time in the morning, you were thinking of making something delicious, right?”

“Yes!”

“…With that number of people?”

As Bae Sejin quietly muttered to himself, Seon Ahyeon lowered his head with a gloomy face.

“T-The recipe is easy to understand… I-I thought I could do it.”

“…Is this a sure recipe?”

Cha Eugene happily answered Bae Sejin’s question full of doubts.

“It’s my mom’s recipe! Chicken soup!”

“…!”

With shaking pupils, Bae Sejin hurriedly added.

“That… Even if the recipe is great, it might be hard for beginners.”

“Try again!”

“Wait, sit down.”

I sat back Cha Eugene, who was about to get up. And I remembered the pot I saw in the kitchen.

‘…It was burning black.’

In addition, judging from the cutting board and the sink, it seemed that the cooking process itself was not normal.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you’re good at cooking, Eugene~?”

“I am good at grilling. It’s my first time boiling food…”

“Geez.”

There was no gag. Keun Sejin clicked his tongue and waved his hand when he made eye contact with me.

“Oh, happy birthday, Moondae~ I sent you a gifticon.”

“…Chicken?”

“Chicken. Two of them at that.”

I got back exactly what I gave him in August.

It was a result of a quick calculation.

“Thanks.”

“M-Me too! Wait a second…!”

Seon Ahyeon, who had been sitting like a crimimal, suddenly jumped up and stomped his feet, and headed to his room.

Then he brought a small, well-wrapped gift and handed it to me.

“H-Happy birthday!”

“Yeah… Thanks. Can I open it?”

“Y-Yes!”

When I opened it, there was a department store gift certificate inside.

This… It felt like I was extracting a friend’s money.

However, Seon Ahyeon looked proud.

“I-I didn’t have time to go shopping… I-It’s better to see and choose for yourself!”

“…Um, right. Thank you. I’ll go when I have time.”

“Yes!”

Next time I went out… I should shop in moderation. It was a bit too much for a friend or a co-worker to receive.

‘Come to think of it, I think he gave something expensive on Keun Sejin’s birthday.’

He didn’t have to do that, I wondered if I should say that at least once.

“Ah, I bought one, too.”

There was nothing more unexpected than Seon Ahyeon’s gift, but after that, I received two gifts unexpectedly.

First of all, Cha Eugene gave me a huge jar of jelly.

‘You’ll eat half of it.’

It was clear that he took it off of what he ordered.

And surprisingly, Bae Sejin gave me a hoodie, perhaps he was the type to remember other people’s birthdays.

“I’ll wear it well. Thank you, hyung.”

“…Well, alright.”

That was how the gift-giving ceremony ended.

To be honest, it was the first time in my life that I received so many congratulatory gifts on the same day.

‘It feels strange.’

I took the box I received from the fans and moved it to my room along with the gifts I received from the members.

“I’m sorry I didn’t prepare anything. I’ll buy you a meal next time. What do you want to eat?”

“You don’t have to be sorry, um, shall we eat whatever we want then?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

It was normal not to know but I agreed to have a proper meal with Ryu Chungwoo who felt sorry for not knowing, then Kim Raebin shouted in a solemn voice next to him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know your birthday…!”

“…It’s fine.”

“There’s a beat I recorded recently… If you use it as your solo song…!”

How can I make it into my own song?

….But let’s accept it for now.

“Alright, I think it would be a good song. I’ll check it out when we have time.”

“Yes!”

Kim Raebin staggered into his room with a big sigh of relief as if he had relieved himself of a heavy burden.

“…”

He would be in big trouble if he keep this up, I should at least tell him later to not get too pressured.

I put the boxes next to the bed and lay down.

And after a long time, I turned on the data on my smartphone. Then the first message came in.

It was a gift from Keun Sejin.

[Gift from Keun Sejin]

: Presenting chicken 1.5kg

“…”

And a little later, Keun Sejin’s message which was plastered with ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’ came in.

‘This bastard, really.’

I reflexively smack the present.

[Do you want to die?]

An answer came immediately.

[Keun Sejin: ㅎI loathe it]

“…”

I got up from my seat and tried to run to Keun Sejin’s room, but I held back.

That would be the reaction this bastard wanted.

Instead, let’s strike calmly and ideally.

[You won’t be able to upload photos in the future.]

[Keun Sejin: I am sorry]

As expected, this was the direct shot.

I turned off my phone and went to sleep.

As I closed my eyes, the shape of the gifts I received today and the sentences of the message book wandered around my head.

…Somehow, I felt like I would have a good dream in my sleep now.

* * *

But after a pleasant sleep, unwelcome news was waiting from the manager I met again.

“Moondae, I got a call for you.”

“Yes? From who?”

The manager handed me his smartphone and mumbled with the shape of his mouth.

‘V-tic Cheongryeo!’

That assh*ole.