Debut or Die
chapter-160

It was a national rule for the winner of the previous season to appear on the audition program.

In particular, Testar was the living witness of <Idol Inc>’s success so if I were the staff of the production team, I would have definitely asked them to appear.

And since the current agency was also affiliated with T1, of course, it was impossible to refuse.

“Guys, think about it. Wouldn’t it be cool? It’s the appearance of the champion!”

“Oh~”

Keun Sejin laughed at the manager’s words. He wanted to tell him not to talk nonsense, but it seemed he was holding back.

“Have you already talked about us appearing?”

“Hmm, I guess. They think you’ll keep your loyalty since we’re from the same company.”

Saying something like loyalty.

‘Half of the guys here have been smashed with their bad policy more than once.’

Perhaps everyone thought the same, I noticed some of them looked a little incredulous or laughing bitterly.

However, Cha Eugene raised his hand while making a face of thinking deeply about something.

“Hyung-nim! Is it girl this time?”

“Huh? Ah, the participant?”

“Yes!”

“Right, it’s girls!”

“Oh.”

Cha Eugene said with a serious face.

“There are fans who think of me as their boyfriend. I don’t like it!”

“Cough!”

Seon Ahyeon choked.

“Hey, then, you just have to be careful~ You’re not going to date them!”

“When you meet a good person, it’s natural to date! I don’t know how I would feel!”

“You just have to say something nice on the set! You won’t have any chance to go that far, Eugene!”

He was right.

‘They’re not going to make us particularly intertwined on the screen.’

T1 also wouldn’t want to rip out Testar’s stomach that laid golden eggs. This wouldn’t unnecessarily hurt Testar’s brand image.

However, there would be room for participants to be misunderstood due to the editing.

‘Participants who neglect practice because they are distracted by the appearance of a popular idol…’

It was a very familiar format. It even made me feel nostalgic.

It was just tiring to get involved in such things. And it wasn’t the only risk factor.

‘I think those bastards are going to mess around.’

Since season 3 we did was so successful, in season 4, various forces would work hard to control and dominate it.

If you looked at the time period, it wouldn’t be strange if it started last year, but it wasn’t surprising that it got delayed by a year.

‘There is a 10% chance of controversy.’

I didn’t want to get involved in that mess.

‘I’ll take care of myself as much as I can.’

I wondered if it was fine to focus on appearance rather than looking cool, so I should give a briefing later.

I sighed inside, and then Kim Raebin, who was sitting next to me, raised his hand.

“Then, let’s give the song that fits girls’ key that I wrote this time as a mission song…”

“Don’t.”

“No, Raebin.”

“…? Alright.”

Before the manager could answer, Kim Raebin lowered his hand again in response to the pouring refusal.

It was good that he wasn’t stubborn.

‘Use your passion to produce somewhere else.’

We would go with the flow of not getting involved as much as possible.

‘When will we shoot?”

“Uh, next week? It doesn’t take long, you’ll only do it briefly in between.”

“Oh~”

I leaned back on the backrest listening to the conversation between the manager and Keun Sejin.

“Oh, it’s Thursday. There’s a variety show scheduled for Moondae!”

Oh, I knew what he meant.

* * *

“<The Singer I Made>, the best singer character…”

“It’s Park Moondae’s ‘Groom in May’!”

Poof!

There was a burst of confetti and cheers.

I could already see captions like ‘Three consecutive victories!’ above the panelists clapping their hands.

“Congratulations!”

It was the ‘Groom in May’ stage that I hadn’t done in a while because it got canceled for 4 weeks due to a special program.

And it was also my last victory.

Because in this program, in order to maintain originality, the number of times a character could show up was limited to three.

‘It’s over.’

The timing was perfect.

For the second time, I sang a rhythmical tango, and this time, I sang a faint night song to reminisce memories.

‘Of course, I arranged the climax longer.’

Thanks to that, I was able to win three times before getting off, so it was nice.

I exchanged my last impressions with the panelists in moderation.

Now, let’s say thank you to the viewers and the members…

“Moondae-ssi, do you have any thoughts about showing up as a new character?”

“Right! I’m so sad to let you go~”

They said that but I knew I would just be digging my own grave.

“If there’s a chance, I hope I can see you again later. I had a lot of fun when I played as Groom in May.”

This was the truth.

‘Thanks to them, I recovered quickly.’

Having a schedule that I had to prepare alone helped me sometimes when I was uncomfortable meeting Ryu Chungwoo.

It was nice not having the time to think about anything else since I got busier.

‘…Having counseling in between was helpful.’

It was embarrassing to admit this, but confiding in an expert, even if it was only scratching the surface, certainly worked.

Thanks to that, I had no other thoughts right now. The number of consultations was also reduced.

‘I think I can settle the status window without any difficulties.’

While I was organizing the current situation in my mind, the MC continued diligently.

I should focus on the shoot, too.

“The Groom in May, who won the Hall of Fame with three consecutive wins, will be produced as character merchandises with the support of the Korean Culture and Arts Council.”

For reference, this was a kind of public service project, but the profits were not returned to the broadcasting station and were all donated.

“Please pay a lot of attention to this product to help malnourished children, dear viewers!”

But the donation wouldn’t be under my name, it would be under this program.

‘Those guys rob me.’

They robbed the tax benefits, too.

Of course, thanks to this, popularity was the only thing I gained. If there were any problems with merchandising, it’s would be the broadcasting station’s fault.

“Thank you for your time.”

“We love it, too~”

“See you again!”

A staff member came out of nowhere and put a doll in my arms. It was a ‘May Groom’ doll with flowers on its face.

‘Oh, my God.’

They even made use of this segment for promotion.

I smiled and waved the doll once, nodded to the judges and the audience, and came down the stage.

I could hear the MC shouting the ending remarks from above.

“Thank you for your hard work~”

“Thank you for your hard work, Moondae-ssi!”

“Thank you, thank you.”

This sense of accomplishment was pretty nice. I fiddled with the stuffed doll in my hand.

‘…Should I put it in my bedroom?’

The roommates would change soon, so I would have to arrange some other place to celebrate when I changed my room later.

‘Then, this is fine.’

The entertainment show that I started alone was now over.

It was time to go and finish filming Testar’s birthplace entertainment show.

“Moondae, welcome~”

“How was it?”

I was questioned as soon as I got into the car.

I waved the doll.

“I won.”

“Oh~”

Applauses rang out. It wasn’t even their business, but their response was good. With this momentum, I thought I could play an active role as a reaction bot on <Idol Inc>’s set.

“I-Is this the prize?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow…”

“It’s better than I thought. I think it’d be nice if we make something like this and put it in the album~”

After undergoing a business analysis, the flower head doll settled in front of the window behind the seat.

And the car moved straight ahead and stopped in front of a familiar huge building on the outskirts.

“Wow… It hasn’t changed a bit.”

“It’s been a long time.”

I bet my flower head doll that ‘I didn’t want to see you again’ was omitted in that sentence.

Even Ryu Chungwoo murmured a little bitterly.

“Hmm… Yes. Let’s do well.”

“Yes.”

Revisiting the script that we had already learned, Testar entered the filming set of <Re-listed! Idol Inc. 2>

And I came to confirm the situation that they had notified.

“Heol! Guys!”

“Oh~ Hello!”

Ins the filming set, there was Gold 1’s group… Golden Age.

Of course, that group wasn’t the only one here. Over there, Gold 2 was glancing this way.

“Oh, Heeseung, it’s been a long time. You said you’re a model, you seem to be doing well?”

“Hehe, of course! Sejin hyung-nim, how have you been?”

The production team gathered all the participants who had been active to some extent after appearing in season 3.

‘Isn’t this number too much?’

It seemed they were planning to launch <Idol Inc.> after raising its popularity to the fullest, but I thought it would be counterproductive because the audience was quite divided due to the gender difference.

‘Well, it’s none of my business.’

It would be better if season 4 failed.

If it worked as well as season 3, even if the gender was different, the survival group’s favorite rank would change, so things would leak.

It would be best if the show failed because it wasn’t fun, rather than because of a fairness controversy issue.

‘Hmm, I don’t know how it will be.’

Let’s finish the shoot safely.

“Ah, Testar is here~ Welcome! Thank you.”

Testar shook hands with the extremely friendly PD and greeted the writers. Among them was writer Ryu Seorin.

“Hello.”

The writer who gave me a business card at a karaoke room and the person who caused controversy over her family relationship with Ryu Chungwoo.

And if showed up in my original body, most likely, my relative…

‘That’s enough.’

Anyway, writer Ryu Seorin got over the situation without pretending to know anyone in particular. It was quite a wise decision.

The PD gave a short briefing before shooting.

“Everyone, you’re all familiar with the direction, right?”

“Yes!”

“Please be cool~ Cool!”

According to his brief, the direction of our appearance was like this.

After playing the ‘Idol Inc Season 3 Achievement Video’ to the participants, the people in the video suddenly appeared in front of them, said a word of support, asked questions, and left… they explained like that.

‘My hands and feet are shriveling up.’

I could do it just fine. However, it was embarrassing to see clearly what kind of effect the person who planned this was aiming for.

“D-Do you want some chocolate?”

“…Yeah. Give me one.”

“Give me one, too!”

I should charge myself with sugar.

After munching on the chocolate Seon Ahyeon gave me, it wasn’t long before the time to shoot came.

“You’ll enter in 5 seconds~”

Season 3 participants, who were waiting at the device in front of the ranking announcement set, appeared in front of season 4 contestants on a lift together.

I could already hear a scream.

“Uaaah!”

“It’s real? Is this real?”

I couldn’t believe this direction either, but it was real.

‘No way, you’re not going to edit me more excessively because I won first place, right?’

I was already worried about the monitoring.

* * *

“Whoa.”

“Ah, it was more nerve-wracking than I thought.”

The camera followed me even after the shooting was over, probably for the behind-the-scenes story.

I smiled roughly, waved my hand, and threw another cheering remark.

“Fighting!”

“I hope season 4 will be the best.”

Just because I said I wanted it to be the best didn’t mean it would really become the best, so I could say whatever I wanted.

But… Because the filming was so embarrassing, my hands were sweaty. Should I go wash up?

“Ah, I’m going to the bathroom for a minute.”

Instead of the manager who was away somewhere, Keun Sejin looked up while looking at his smartphone.

“You’re not going to ask for the participants’ number, are you, Moondae? I trust you~”

“Yeah.”

Perhaps because I had seen another season 3 contestant flirting with me to get my number, I didn’t even feel like asking if he had gone crazy.

‘I guess she’s confident she won’t get caught.’

I shrugged my shoulders and walked down the hall.

As I walked further away from the noisy set, I suddenly heard a sound following me from behind.

‘No way?’

When I turned my head, a different person than I expected was standing there.

It was Choi Wongil.

Did he have a reason to follow me?

“Hyung.”

“…?”

Choi Wongil spoke with a conflicted face.

“What is it?”

“…I don’t know how to tell you this. Be careful.”

“What should I be careful about?”

“Us, the agency.”

“…”

You’re bringing this up yourself?

For now, to prevent the same disaster as last time, I made sure that there was no one around.

“There’s no one. I’ve checked.”

Sigh.

‘I guess you’ve learned a little on your own.’

I smiled and completely turned to Choi Wongil.

“Yeah. What about your agency?”

“…Do you know our main vocalist? Not me, that hyung.”

“Oh, him.”

It seemed he was talking about the Golden Age guy who played the Chicken with Ribbon when I was the ‘Groom in May’ in <My Singer>.

“Yeah. I know him. What about him?”

Choi Wongil mumbled.

“I think he’s comparing himself… with hyung.”

“With me? Comparing about what?”

Why would he do such a reckless thing when he got a K.0 in My Singer? With the person who won first place in the survival show, at that.

Choi Wongil lowered his head.

“That, about your educational background…”

“…!”

“He’s a Korean university student.”

Oh, my God.

‘There’s that.’

Right. This ‘Park Moondae’ didn’t even graduate from high school.

After living as a college graduate, I became an idol right away, so I almost forgot the educational background of ‘Park Moondae’.

Sometimes it came out as aggravating noises, but even that didn’t come out often these days.

‘That means it’s a weak material.’

I wasn’t the only idol who dropped out of school in the first place.

It only stood out when the family history was stolen during <Idol Inc.>.

It also played a role in thickening the background of the character of ‘Park Moondae’, so it wasn’t particularly a weakness.

This meant, if they did this wrong, even if it was Golden Age, they could get the backlash that accused them of persecuting people.

It was kind of weird to say this, but I wasn’t unpopular.

‘You must have already guessed that they’re skilled in things like this.’

I purposely inspected Choi Wongil.

“Isn’t that too much? I want to know if you’re certain.”

“…I don’t know. They’re not telling me, but I heard it from the company somehow… They asked that hyung to act like a young master. They also told him to use Park Moondae hyung as a material…”

“…”

So, instead of sticking to me one-on-one, he was being pushed into the image of a golden spoon with the impression of ‘an elite with exceptionally good academic background and family’.

And I guessed they were thinking of using me as one of the numerous counter-examples.

‘They do all kinds of things.’

Of course, I didn’t know if they would really use me, but this attempt was certainly worth a try for an agency that was skilled at media play.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t know. It’s just… I’ve caused you a lot of trouble… I wanted to apologize, so I told you. I’m sorry.”

“…Okay.”

I held back my sigh.

“First of all… Thank you.”

“……!”

Choi Wongil seemed surprised, but he nodded with a more relaxed face.

“Thank you. I, uh, I’m going….”

“Yeah. Go home safely.”

I saw Choi Wongil running and disappearing, then I clicked my tongue inwardly.

‘It’s so vague.’

This wasn’t something I could do anything about even if I knew. I had no intention of doing anything useless like taking the CSAT again and going to college.

‘For now, it’s important that I have known it in advance.’

And I didn’t think there would be a big problem even in case of an emergency. I’d just get a little annoyed.

I shrugged and continued walking down the hallway.

‘I don’t have time to go to the bathroom.’

After walking quite a bit, I got closer to the entryway. So I thought of turning that way and leaving the set.

And I saw an unexpected encounter at the entryway on the other side.

“… I hope you will think about it! That sunbae is a really nice person.”

“…”

A staff and Bae Sejin were finishing a conversation.

‘PD?’

To be exact, the stiff-faced Bae Sejin had received something from one of the producers of <Idol Inc.>.

The PD soon left, and I approached Bae Sejin.

“Hyung.”

“…Huh, oh.”

Bae Sejin seemed a little dazed.

“Is something wrong?”

“That….”

Bae Sejin looked a little conflicted, but soon swallowed and said.

“He asked me if I have any thoughts on doing a drama.”

“…!”