Debut or Die

‘It’s driving me crazy.’

…Hmm, calm down.

I could just pretend not to know and moved on, but if the topic made it to the surface, we could be imprinted on the public as a ‘tiring group’, so I would try to patch it up lightly for now.

‘That’s why I’m going to turn on the W app.’

We had become roommates and things hadn’t gone too far, so if we pretended we didn’t know, it wouldn’t look too obvious.

However, there was one thing I should pay attention to.

In this situation, there were a few things I needed to keep in mind if I wanted to broadcast anything with Cha Eugene.

– First, one person shouldn’t teach the other.

In this case, the situation could lead to an implicit sequence, making it a weakness they could pounce on.

I could give examples such as ‘He did his best to teach but the other guy’s attitude is so insincere’ or ‘His teaching is forced’.

‘Therefore, things like ‘Joyful Cooking Class with Cha Eugene’ and ‘Joyful English Class with Park Moondae’ are dismissed.’

– Second, don’t choose things related to work.

The moment I chose a topic related to dancing or singing, a talk of comparison would come out, asking ‘Which one is better?’.

It would be perfect to make the conflict explode again.

And… the last third.

– Don’t choose competitive content.

People who were committed to one side could get offended by the other.

‘Therefore, hard bets or card games are not allowed. They’re out.’

So what should I recommend?

It was simple.

‘We should show the two of us doing something together as a team.’

The implication was subtle, so it didn’t feel forced, and it was best to just laugh and watch.

Even if we failed, being funny would be much better.

So I chose this.

“Woooow!”

Right away… It was a horror-themed escape room.

‘F*ck.’

I never thought I would willingly waste money like this, but I was looking for a room at an escape room cafe that was going to be remodeled soon, and I paid quite a lot of money and ended the contract over the phone in an instant.

…It seemed I had lost quite a bit of money because I didn’t have time to bargain.

‘I’m glad the company said they would take care of the expenses.’

Of course, the expenses would be taken from my settlement amount.

Anyway, that’s why I came to the escape room with Cha Eugene in the middle of the night when my schedule was empty.

Naturally, the staff with their smartphone cameras followed with sad eyes.

‘I’m sorry.’

I didn’t know it would be like this either.

“Whoa! Hyung, head! Watch out!”

However, Cha Eugene looked very excited. It was absurd.

“Weren’t you afraid of this, too…?”

“It’s so fake! I’m not scared! There are no ghosts!”

He meant that compared to the house we had gone to in our debut reality show last time, this was almost like a child’s prank.

‘Certainly… It’s rather sloppy.’

Perhaps because of the labor costs, there were no employees who played ghost roles. In addition, the props and the wallpaper strangely smelled of cost-effectiveness.

‘It’s not for no reason that the room is going to get remodeled.’

There were very few sections where I had to use my brain, so I didn’t have to get caught up with words such as, ‘You can’t even solve that?’

Sometimes they turned off the light to scare us, but it was okay as long as I had the right amount of courage and agility…

“Hyung, there’s blood here!”

“…C-Crayons. It’s melted crayons.”

“Aha!”

I shouldn’t express my desire to hit him. Let’s just forget it.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I was able to forget the sloppiness and got myself immersed thanks to the structure that became creepier as the second half progressed.

Even Cha Eugene got scared when the mannequin came out of the red light at the end, so this picture was good.

“What the…!”

He held back from cursing. Good job.

Thanks to this, when we escaped and came out, we had a tight atmosphere as if we had overcome some kind of great adversity.

“You two managed to escape with 6 minutes and 21 seconds left~”

“WOOOW!! Look, escape!”

“On the way back… Let’s eat something delicious.”

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋScaredy-catz

– Surprisingly, aren’t they soul twins?

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋCongratulations on your escape

– (Applause emoticon)

The live responses that the staff sneakily displayed were very good. The number of viewers was as high as the group W app.

“Is it over?’

For now, the content seemed successful.

“Thank you for watching.”

“Thank you! Thank you, guys~”

Like that, the W live ended right before midnight.

“Then I’ll go get the camera.”

We had agreed that today’s broadcast would be edited together with the cams installed in the room from different angles and uploaded separately to the W app.

…I almost lost it when I heard that the title would be [The Story of a Puppy and a Kitty Overcoming Their Fear] but I approved.

It was better to attract aggro that way.

‘It’s better…’

I checked my smartphone again with a sigh.

– Escape from horror with those two? The person in charge of the W live is evil ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– The second coming of reality show horror experiences

– I guess both of them miss Keunse

– A trembling puppy and kittyㅋㅋ (screenshot)

– Moon Puppy who was brilliant for a moment and shrunk in an instant (screenshot comparison)

“What are you watching?”

“Fans’ reactions.”

“Aha.”

Cha Eugene nodded.

In fact, while preparing for this W live, I had explained why I was doing this.

Some of our fans didn’t get along well.

‘He must have figured out the situation.’

It seemed that this guy’s tactful attitude in the last fight between Lee Sejin and Bae Sejin was not a coincidence. It was nice because his unnecessary desire to compete was completely gone.

“Does everyone like it??”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

Anyway, the response was very satisfying.

They were busy enjoying the content and the related content posted on real-time trends and popular articles right now, so the topic of the behind-the-scene fights had already been pushed aside.

Except for the people who fought, it was hard for anyone to care.

‘Cha Eugene’s and Park Moondae’s fans have good firepower.’

A few days later, when someone else tried to raise their voice, a newly edited version would be uploaded. It was basically over.

“Are we going to eat something delicious now?”

“Tomorrow. It’s late, so drink zero coke.”

“Yes….”

…However, after getting in the car to go back to the dorm, I found something troubling.

It was the posts uploaded by some of Cha Eugene’s malicious fans who had fled to anonymous sites.

– Wow~ Amazing, look at the timing againㅎ

– You’re making it so obvious that you care about the public opinion, you disgusting bastard

– I’ve thought about it. Gommeo, let go of Euggene

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋI feel like the*sshole Park Moondae is spying on us while browsing

‘It’s here.’

I had a hunch that someone might be talking about this.

‘I handled a few cases too smoothly.’

Every time there was a controversy, it turned out alright, so some people might connect the dots and think, ‘Is this bastard doing this because he knows everything?’.

However, whether it was this time or in the past, there was no circumstantial evidence.

Because I prefer to respond first, there were many cases where I was one step ahead or came out at the same time to crush them.

It would be difficult to regard this as ‘responding to a controversy’. They’d thought the timing was right.

Furthermore, since I didn’t comment on such things, anyone who suspected it would easily think that it was the company that set up the board.

So my assessment always ended with just the right response or luck.

Somehow… it was fun.

‘Even though they’re the ones who post that, they don’t believe it.’

They were just pissed off so they insisted on that situation.

However, if you put it together, the samples would eventually pile up and become a plausible topic… I had that concern.

‘Well, that’s also true.’

I shrugged. Still, I didn’t want to give them a win.

So I thought.

‘Then how do I get rid of this?’

Since it had already started, I wanted to root it out so there would be no room for complaints.

‘It’s best to disrupt them by making them fight among themselves. Or make them transfer to another fresh group.’

From Cha Eugene’s point of view, it would be good in the long run if their influence weakened. That’s why…

“Hyung! Would you like a coke??”

“…Huh, what?”

When I turned my head, Cha Eugene, who had bought coke zero, was in the car holding a small plastic bottle.

“Um, are you drinking? Are you going to drink…? You’re going to eat?”

Cha Eugene earnestly changed his words. It seemed he thought I replied like that because his words weren’t conveyed properly.

“It’s fine. You drink it.”

[Oh, okay. Hyung, are you worried about something?]

“…!”

“Hyung, you’re tired. You look like you are.”

“It’s late at night.”

[Not that! Um… Like, psychologically?]

“…”

This guy… He noticed that.

I looked over at Cha Eugene with suspicious eyes and finally sighed.

Let’s answer him properly.

“It’s because I’m paying attention to the response. It’s not a big deal.”

“Oh, there are a lot of people who don’t like it?”

“No, it’s just… Nothing’s missing.”

“Aha.”

Cha Eugene sipped his zero coke and spoke seriously.

[But don’t worry too much, hyung. How can you change everyone else’s mind at will?]

“…!”

Cha Eugene shrugged.

[My mom said that there are always people who hate you in your life! But ignore them, and voila! It keeps going. Don’t stress over it!]

“…”

Hmm. He gave advice that unimaginably made sense.

Somehow… My head cooled down.

I thought about it again.

Will there be a problem if I don’t immediately take care of the people who escape to this anonymous bulletin board?

‘Maybe, maybe not.’

So if that ‘problem’ occurs, will it be hard to deal with?

“…”

‘No.’

Even if I kept quiet and then solve it at that time, it wasn’t going to be a difficult problem.

Besides, it wouldn’t be a big deal if my intense monitoring became known. Even in the worst-case scenario, people would just be more self-conscious.

Rather, if I made a mistake when trying to pull them all out, there was a high probability that the problem would grow.

I eventually acknowledged it.

‘I was a bit… overreacting.’

Normally, I would have already brushed it off and stopped caring, but I hated that someone was trying to figure me out.

‘Do I have some kind of obsessive-compulsive personality?’

After entering the body of another person and being engaged in a job group that required dealing with many people in various ways, my brain had hardened before I knew it.

“Sigh.”

I turned off the anonymous bulletin board on the screen and tossed my phone aside.

And I said.

“You’re right. I need to snap out of it.”

“Of course, I’m right!”

You’re very confident.

[Ah, hyung. There’s one more! Don’t forget that there is always an option to sue!]

He also gave very American advice.

“Yes.”

“Good!“

I never thought I’d hear this.

I chuckled. And I leaned against the backrest.

‘Should I close my eyes?’

At the same time, Cha Eugene would be able to drink my share of coke zero with peace of mind.

And just as I closed my eyes, someone hit me hard on the shoulder.

“Oh, hyung! I’ll tell you my old man! Let’s have a circus performance!”

“…”

Being roommates for half a year… I didn’t know if I could stand it.

* * *

After suffering from sleep deprivation in between, I eventually threatened and coaxed Cha Eugene with snacks to make him shut up for several days.

The company talked about the concert, and naturally, there were also talks about new content.

By the way, I was optimistic. If there were a lot of things to enjoy, it was better to push out useless nonsense.

However, the company’s talk was not like what I had thought. It was different.

“I’m planning a new reality show.”

A reality show was good. It would have been nice if it was done at the time of the album release, but it would be good to fill in the hiatus during the tour…

“I’m thinking of going to America!”

“…?”

I should have noticed then.

The payment bot left and a new director came in… with American disease.