Debut or Die-Novel

96.

Through my blurry vision, I saw a familiar face.

“…Keun Sejin?”

“You seem to have a fever.”

I wasn’t sure, but Keun Sejin looked like he was freaking out.

I cleared my throat a few times before answering.

“…Cough, uh. I took my medicine.”

“It’s not just about taking medicine… Hey, go to the hospital. Do you want me to call the agency?”

“…It’s not a serious illness… It’s fine. It’s the fatigue.”

Keun Sejin clicked his tongue.

“You can get better quickly, so what are you suffering for? Just take a shot. Get a lot of prescription pills.”

“…”

It was troublesome, but honestly, it was a bit tempting.

‘The agency can do that much.’

Still, it was an affiliate of a large company, so there was an expectation that they would deal with industrial hazards of this level.

Then I realized the current situation.

“Ah… Manager hyung is taking a break today.”

“You can call a taxi. Just dress casually.”

“…”

Taxis were in the options.

I watched Keun Sejin finish the phone call and managed to speak out my rational doubts.

“But why are you here?”

“I was stopping by on my way to the agency because I needed to get something. It’s near my house.”

You have something to get from the agency?

“What is it that you get?”

“Is that important now? That’s enough, change your clothes. The taxi will come soon.”

“…Yeah.”

I slowly got up, threw off my sweaty shirt, and put on an ordinary hoodie. It was chilly, so I didn’t feel hot.

“Do you need help?”

“I am already done.”

I could just go ahead like this. If I just wore a mask to cover my face…

“Come on, wear this.”

“…”

He noticed it like a ghost. I wore the mask and acknowledged it obediently.

“Thank you.”

“If you understand, be nice to me.”

Keun Sejin shook his head and checked his smartphone.

“Ah, it says the taxi is nearby. Let’s go down.”

“Yeah. Can it goes to the front door?”

“I called it over there. Follow me.”

“…?”

Looking at him, it felt like he was going to go with me instead of just seeing me off.

“I’ll just go by myself.”

“Imagine what kind of article will come out if you collapse while going out alone.”

“…”

I accepted defeat.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

I shut my mouth, followed Keun Sejin down, and took a taxi.

As I endured motion sickness with flickering consciousness, I arrived at the hospital shortly after.

* * *

“It’s much better, right?”

“Yes.”

I readily agreed. I didn’t know what the hell was in the shot, but after receiving two packs of different colors, my condition improved dramatically.

‘It’s just tolerable flu.’

It was a big hospital, and due to its location, it ended quietly even if some celebrities came.

“You can go eat and take medicine. Kya, where can you get another friend like me.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“…Don’t mention it.”

Keon Sejin shrugged his shoulders and opened the front door of the dorm.

Then a pile of boxes appeared in front of me.

“…!”

It wasn’t just delivery boxes. These boxes of different sizes, wrapped in ivory wrapping papers with dark green ribbons…

“Ah, they’ve already moved it.”

“…”

I quietly asked Keun Sejin who seemed nonchalant.

“…Is it your birthday?”

“Huh? Ah, Moondae must have looked it up while searching~”

Keun Sejin smiled with a wink.

“That’s right, it’s the day after my birthday. August 1st.”

What he had to get from the agency must have been that pile of presents.

‘…I thought you were the type who would make a fuss a week before your birthday.’

I didn’t know he wouldn’t say a word.

In fact, if I hadn’t remembered what I saw on SNS a few days ago, I almost passed by that pile of presents thinking it was to support the debut commemoration.

At any rate, the birthday guy was unconcerned.

“Because my birthday passed in the middle of the vacation~ I was going to take a proof shot first. It’s nice to see this right away on the actual day.”

“That’s true, and… First of all, congratulations.”

“Alright~ Send me touching congratulatory messages and gifticons on my birthday. I’ll be satisfied with chicken.”

I smiled.

“…You paid for the chicken today.”

“-! Moondae, If you listen to this, you can get two.”

“What?”

Keun Sejin grinned, then walked into the kitchen and lifted a pot.

“This is galbi-jjim^[1]Galbi-jjim = braised short ribs. .”

“…Galbi?”

Where did it suddenly come from?

“You know~ I’m worried about my friend who’s going to stay alone at the dorm. So I take this away from my birthday presents!”

“…!!”

“Just… Isn’t it touching? Keun Sejin brought galbi for his teammates while on vacation… Hah, tell this moving story wherever you go.”

“…”

“Are you speechless because you’re grateful? It’s okay. It can happen.”

Keun Sejin waved his hand and headed for the front door.

“I’m going back, so take good care of your health during vacation. Make sure to heat up the galbi-jjim.”

“…Do you want me to take a proof shot of the presents?”

“Haha, that’s enough. You’re still sick. I already took a picture at the agency.”

Keun Sejin disappeared leaving a piece of advice, ‘If you get sick again, go to the hospital again’.

“…”

‘I’ve been through all kinds of things.’

This one was quite new because I hadn’t been with anyone when I was sick and only the annoying things had increased.

‘It’s nice to have someone to help me.’

…When Keun Sejin’s birthday came around again, I should really send him a chicken. It was worth that much on my holiday.

‘Now, take the medicine and monitor again…’

Ring.

I got a message on my smartphone.

[Seon Ahyeon: Are you enjoying your vacation, Moondae? I’ve just finished my first consultation. They seem to be a good person, so I’m going to try really hard this time. I thought I should call you to say thank you, so I texted you… (View more)]

“…”

This… He hadn’t changed. Still, I wondered why he didn’t post it in the group chat.

I clicked to view more.

To sum up, what he was saying was thank you and do you have any thoughts of visiting during the vacation?

‘None.’

I replied with, ‘Congratulations on receiving good counseling. I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to rest’.

Then, I threw my phone on the sofa and took medicine, and when I came back, the long text messages had multiplied to 5.

In addition, a lot of complicated notifications popped up in the group chat.

When I checked, it seemed Keun Sejin had already talked about everything that had happened today in the group chat.

[Cha Eugene: Be healthy, hyung! (default crying emoticon)]

[Ryu Chungwoo: I guess it happened because you took a break from work. Call me if it’s too hard.]

[Raebin: My grandfather gave me red ginseng. Should I bring it with me when I return to the dorm? (a blurred photo of a bucket)]

[Keun Sejin: please give some me too (laughing emoticon)]

…There were dozens of conversations like this.

“…Huh.”

At this point, instead of being alone, I felt like these guys were in the next room somewhere.

‘But I’m thankful.’

I was taking a break so they knew not to bother me with troublesome calls.

Even Lee Sejin sent me a message.

Of course, it wasn’t in the group chat.

[Lee Sejin A: Are you okay?]

I replied one by one in the order that came first.

First of all, I sent a message to Seon Ahyeon, saying, ‘I am getting better and I never thought you were tactlessly inviting me to play, so don’t worry’, and I also sent one to Lee Sejin saying that I was fine.

Lastly, I posted the same content on the group chat.

[I’ve gotten better after coming back from the hospital. Have a nice vacation, everyone.]

Then the screen was filled with OK emoticons from the people who checked. Well… The feedback was quick and positive, so it was nice.

‘Let’s just eat now.’

I shrugged and heated up the galbi-jjim and instant rice.

The galbi-jjim was quite delicious.

* * *

While Park Moondae was recovering and quietly finishing his vacation, Testar’s fans were enjoying the news of Testar’s vacation posted on SNS.

– Ahyeonㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s starting to use sponges, cute… It’s so cute…! (photo of a half-used sponge)

– Today’s Raebin: I eat chodang corn with my grandfather… I want to sit under the air conditioner and eat mysterious peaches and chodang corn until my stomach is full.

– Does anyone know where Cheongwoo took the picture and uploaded it?ㅠ It looks like a mountain, but did you climb a mountain this summer, Chungwoo…? During a vacation at that…?

In particular, Keun Sejin was overflowing with birthday content, releasing all kinds of photos and videos.

The most popular content was a short video of Testar lip-syncing to the sound of their Hi-five music broadcast performance coming from the TV.

Testar, who was passing by the living room doing everyday activities such as drinking water or reading a book, got excited and followed others people’s parts; it became a hot topic and got 10,000 shares.

– No, why do you look closer here than in the reality showㅋㅋㅋ

– I didn’t know that actor Sejin would really play along… In Cha Eugene’s rap part too…ㅋㅋ

– It feels like they’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with each other, so I feel warm… Sniff… Make sure Testar lasts longer… for 100 years…

And as the last episode of the reality trip was aired, fans were feeling a bittersweet aftertaste of Testar’s successful debut activity.

However, it was still too early for fans of one member to enjoy the aftertaste.

They were Park Moondae’s fans who had the main broadcast of <Let’s Get Close First> right around the corner.

– Today has finally come.

– MoondaeㅠㅠEntertainmentㅠㅠ Overflowing portionㅠㅠ

– What’s this, I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep last night…

-When I saw the trailer, there was a ghost story about an escaped murderer. Thinking that Moondae got scared and followed his senior around, it was already cute and fun. I’m the winner today because I am spending my annual vacation watching the scene with a clear mind

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋNo, just how much were you looking forward to itㅋㅋㅋ

Amidst the fans’ nervous expectations, this week’s <Let’s Get Close First> started airing.

The first thing that appeared… It was a skit about two people meeting in a mountain cabin in the middle of a snowy mountain.

[I was surprised by the sudden snowstorm, but it’s fortunate there is a mountain cabin.]

[I see. I also quickly came in after seeing the weather.]

The problem was that neither of them had any talent for acting.

It suddenly became a good gag corner.

Laughter erupted at every community comment that ran the program on-air in real time.

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– No, you’re not in distress, you two look like you’re having a business meeting

– Mysterious meeting room vibe

– When did the true leader Cheongryeo-nim leave and Jaehyun come out? Aigoo, Jaehyun, whoever sees it will think you guys are meeting at a seminar

– Moondae, the setting is winter. You were trying to take off your padded jacket because it was too hot, but you hesitatedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The scene of sharing hot Americano and sharing the instant food awkwardly taken out of the backpack also made people laugh.

– Moondae pretended not to see the chicken feet lunch box just nowㅋㅋ

– No, according to the setting, the puppy brought it with him, but he’s looking through his backpack like it’s his first time seeing it!

– Cheongryeo, even in the middle of summer, you only drink hot water, so even for your junior, you’re boiling Americano this summer… (speechless)

– I guess the lunch box doesn’t taste good. They both became silent after eatingㅋㅋㅋ

The vague snowstorm CG in the window made the sense of dissonance funnier.

[At that moment,]

[There is a sudden roar…?]

In addition, when these captions were added, the atmosphere became more strange.

[[A tremendous roar echoes through the cabin]

[Victim 1: Is it thunder? (Calm)]

[Junior 2: I’ll call the police for now (Calm)]

– They’re isolated in a mountain cabin due to a landslide, but I don’t feel any tension. It’s because they have a PPL product that produces infinitely hot Americano.

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It’s driving me crazy.

– You two are really no differentㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└They must be thinking that they’re totally immersed in it… maybe…

It was when Cheongryeo brought up the ghost story that this endless cycle of skits was cut off.

• 1. Galbi-jjim = braised short ribs.