Debut or Die
chapter-77-30041322

After reorganizing the choreography on Sunday evening, I collapsed and when I woke up, it was already the next week.

This meant it was time to check the first week’s album sales.

The result was… Terrifying.

“…670,000 copies?”

“That’s right!”

I asked the manager one more time.

“The sales volume, not the pre-order volume?”

“…No? Anyway, it is really the sales volume!”

“…”

For reference, pre-order volume referred to the number of pre-orders from retail stores in anticipation of the album being sold.

‘I doubted it would be like this since we stepped in a lot in the beginning.’

670,000 copies were sold.

‘I can’t believe it.’

No matter how high the recent album sales inflation was, it was a sales volume that really made you feel paralyzed.

It was even more amazing when considering that Testar’s fanbase was formed mainly in Korea from the former audition program.

It was even bigger than it was originally.

‘Wasn’t it originally 600,000?’

Certainly, the initial release of the group that originally debuted with <Idol Inc.> had 600,000 copies. I couldn’t figure out where the hell the 70,000 came from…

“… I heard that our boy idol’s debut album sales are breaking a new record?”

“U-Uuuh…”

“Holy moly.”

The other guys were overwhelmed rather than happy.

If it had been 300,000 copies, I would have happily rolled on the floor, but when the double score came up, I felt a little scared.

Of course, the guys who came to their senses soon jumped out. This meant that they were starting to make realistic judgments.

“…Can we win first place next week?”

“…!!”

In an instant, the tension rose.

Ryu Chungwoo opened his mouth.

“How much is VTIC sunbae-nim’s sales volume this week?”

“Let me check.”

Kim Raebin immediately started searching.

Weekly sales could be checked immediately on the album chart.

“[LONG NIGHT / VTIC 312, 608]”

“…!”

“Wow.”

It was an unbelievable number considering it was the second week.

‘Even if it’s the last day of the initial release, it’s like that.’

It was at the level of total sales of boy idols that were just doing well.

Now that it came to this, I got curious about the initial release of this album.

“…Wait a moment.”

I tapped Kim Raebin’s smartphone screen several times to check VTIC’s album sales in the first seven days and initial releases.

[1,872,863]

“…”

Ah, it was hopeless.

“Wow~”

“Haha.”

“If we work hard, the day will come when we win first place!”

The tension instantly disappeared. Members began to laugh and cheer each other up.

I already expected it, but with such a difference in the basic score, the desire to win also disappeared.

Even if this total, which was twice as different from the album sales, came out at the perfect time, it seemed difficult because it was pushed back from the song.

‘After the initial period, there’s no chance the album sales will go well… It’s probably going to be tough even in the second week.’

Although the music ranking continued to rise, it was also uncertain whether we could push out VTIC which was stuck in first place.

I shrugged.

“Shall we get ready to go out?”

“That would be nice.”

“Today too, fighting~”

Members dispersed to change into outdoor clothes.

The manager said, ‘This isn’t it…’ He murmured the same words several times but soon sighed deeply as if he had accepted the reality.

‘I guess you have different ideas.’

Well, he would take care of it.

It was right after getting in the car that the manager started again.

“Your fan signing event starts two days later, do you know that?”

“Already?”

The members were nervous. I heard about it at the beginning of the activity, but I forgot the date because of my busy schedule. The manager nodded.

“Yeah, they bought so many albums and cheered for you passionately. Do your best~ Treat them well with sincerity~”

“Ah, of course!”

Perhaps the reason why he talked about the album sales first was to lead into this topic. He seemed relieved to be able to say it now.

‘A fan-signing event.’

If I didn’t want to make a mistake while talking with a hundred people in a row, I needed to put in some spirit.

However, it seemed this had the opposite effect on some of the members. Because Seon Ahyeon’s face turned blue at once.

“I-I-I don’t think I can.”

“Why’s that?”

“Huh? I-I’m not good at talking…?”

“…? Hyung is good at speaking Korean right now.”

Seon Ahyeon, who was caught up in Cha Eugene’s nonsense, started to get more confused.

I sighed and interrupted.

“You’re cautious, so you won’t make a mistake. Don’t worry too much.”

“…T-Thank you.”

Seon Ahyeon replied with a faint smile, but it wasn’t an expression of someone who wasn’t worried.

‘It’s understandable.’

I hadn’t even talked much to fans in the first place.

I sometimes saw fans from close range as I went back and forth during schedules, but usually, we only exchanged greetings or fan services and quickly get in the car.

Sometimes, it wasn’t a fan, but a sasaeng who persistently followed us near the dorm or at the convenience store, so it was hard to make an example of it.

‘Any members would be nervous to have a one-on-one conversation…’

“Time should pass quickly~ To see our fans’ faces.”

“…”

Except for him.

Keun Sejin in the front seat was humming and rummaging through his smartphone.

‘He’s confident.’

I never thought I would confirm an example of an idol’s polar opposite ahead of a fan-signing event like this.

…What about me?

‘I don’t know.’

If it was a famous idol public fan signing event, I had been paid a few times to take pictures as a substitute.

But I’d never heard what they were talking about while getting autographs.

This was because the place itself was more noisy than expected, so most sounds were muffled.

‘Well… I’ve seen a lot of headbands.’

It was kind of embarrassing, but it couldn’t be helped, so let’s move on.

I clicked my tongue while looking at my brain, there was only a vague impression left. No content.

‘Should I find out what kind of conversation they usually have?’

I was in the middle of moving, but there was no reality show camera in the car. I immediately logged in to SNS on my smartphone and started searching.

[Fan signing event review]

‘Since I put ‘review’ at the end, I can roughly skip homemaster’s pictures.’

However, before I could move to the popular posts tab, a recent article that just popped up caught my eye.

“…!”

Wait.

[Testar, 120 copies for this fan signingㅋㅋㅋ It’s a workday, but it’s crazy, really! I’m crazy… Please post more reviews of the fan signing eventㅠㅠ (photo)]

The image attached to the post was a screenshot of the certification message saying that 100 copies were bought.

“…”

120?

To be honest, I thought of this as soon as I saw it.

‘…How much is this?’

The regular price of Testar’s debut mini-album was 15,000 won. Even if the discount rate was raised through group purchases, etc…about 11,000 won would be the lowest price.

‘Even if you calculate it…’

It was 1.32 million won.

“…Huh.”

My brain spun.

‘Even if the conversation is long, it would be a minute or two.’

Since there were seven Testar members, it meant that each person had to be worth more than 180,000 won.

‘Isn’t the efficiency too low?’

Can I make 1 minute of conversation worth 100,000? Of course, I’m not confident.

‘Should I just… do whatever they ask me to do?’

Other than that, I couldn’t think of any special measures. I put down my smartphone and pressed my forehead.

Even though I had taken pictures of guys with more than 100 copies for fan signs, I never thought I’d become one of them.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

* * *

Park Moondae’s first homma arrived with full preparation at an art hall in Mokdong where the fan signing event was held.

The small stage and audience seats that could accommodate 300 people accepted 100 people on the waiting list without any difficulty.

And the waiting numbers were distributed.

[07]

‘Hooray, a front number!’

Murmuring that they would be able to talk before Moondae got tired, homma happily set up the camera quickly.

And when it was just past 7:30 pm.

From the side of the stage, Testar entered.

In an instant, deafening cheers filled the small art hall. Originally, the sound of taking pictures would have been heard first, but before that, the first fansign was filled with excitement.

Testar, who waved their hands and entered with slight embarrassment, bowed in front of the autograph table set on the stage.

“Take your STAR! Hello, we’re Testar!”

“Wooow!”

It was an official greeting befitting of a rookie who was not used to the fan signing event yet. The fans cheered enthusiastically, but on the inside, they were shouting for each member they were rooting for.

The same was true of Park Moondae’s homma.

‘Moondae, black hair! Ah, I love it!!’

She’d been to the pre-recordings several times so it wasn’t her first time seeing Park Moondae’s black hair, but she still liked it every time.

It might be because Park Moondae had black hair when she first became a fan.

‘Blonde hair is good too, but as expected, it has to be black.’

She briefly thought of her friend who was a stubborn blonde, but soon erased it and quickly focused on the camera.

She had to take a good picture and spread that face wide.

‘I think he gets more handsome every time I see him.’

Perhaps because of the album concept, Park Moondae had a strangely refreshing atmosphere with black hair and a white summer uniform as his current stage costume.

‘This is not a joke, it is the truth…!’

While she was muttering like that, the greeting ended and Testar slipped back to the table and sat down.

‘Moondae is at the last row.’

Homma murmured that it was a good idea to bring gifts to the other members just in case. It would be kind of weird if she walked with her hands full of gifts but she didn’t give them away until the last seat where Moondae was.

“Let’s start in order of numbers~”

Soon, the fan signing event began in earnest.

Because she got a front number, she could start getting autographs without waiting long. Moondae was about to meet his first fan.

The first in line was Ryu Chungwoo.

“Hello!”

“H-Hello.”

Seeing Ryu Chungwoo greeting first, Homma stuttered a little.

‘He’s handsome, too.’

She had seen him being called nicknames like the hot Confucian man on SNS, but seeing him up close, she could see why.

‘You look like an athletic student who will appear as the main character in a webtoon…’

She shared a few light small talks, and after a high five, she handed over a small red ginseng box.

“Wow, thank you!”

“Ei, not it’s fine~”

The first sign ended warmly. And next.

“Where can I sign for you?”

It was child actor Lee Sejin. Lee Sejin, who had a delicate and neat impression, was not particularly active, but he wasn’t insincere either.

“Who are you here to see?”

Unexpectedly, he even asked a question first.

“I came to watch all Testar~”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

Lee Sejin answered calmly without being particularly sensitive and finished the autograph neatly.

‘It’s more refreshing than I thought.’

Somehow, the image that was renewed as she got an autograph from each person was good.

It was the same for the members who signed next.

“Um, then I will try to find a blank space that is as conspicuous as possible without covering the face…”

She also liked Kim Raebin, who signed shyly with a tense look contrary to his sharp impression.

“Which album cover do you like best? I love violet the best!”

She found it cute that Cha Eugene was more excited than the fan receiving the autograph and he put all kinds of graffiti around his autograph and threw a bombing question.

‘At the beginning of Idol Inc, I really hated him.’

She praised herself, saying it was a good thing that she didn’t say anything wrong at that time.

And then Keun Sejin appeared.

“Welcome~ How’s your first fan signing event today? I am really nervous!”

“I am nervous, too!”

“Ei, I don’t think you’re nervous~”

With a friendly tone, Keun Sejin asked her what she did during the day, how she was feeling, how she was doing now, and even her worries.

In addition, she didn’t say anything, but a high-five came out automatically.

“See you next time~”

“Yes…!”

‘…I think we’ve gotten closer?’

She felt like she had built an inner circle with a handsome business major. Although she vaguely guessed that the other person was friendly to all his colleagues.

While she was impressed by the popular guy vibe she felt from a conversation that was only two-and-a-half-minute long, her excitement went up at Moondae’s turn that would come soon.

‘Now, after this is Moondae…!’

So full of expectations, she was thinking of passing Seon Ahyeon quickly.

‘…That face is too great…’

“N-Nice to meet you…!”

Seon Ahyeon smiled brightly and listened carefully to her words. Thanks to this, she got an autograph almost as if she had been possessed.

Seon Ahyeon even put a sincere P.S. underneath it.

[Thank you so much for coming today, Jiwon! We’ll work harder in the future and show you great things!*^^*]

‘…He really is a natural monument.’

That face and that personality. Even that character would be difficult to maintain.

…And now, what was left was the long-awaited favorite.

She gulped down and looked back at Moondae.