Debut or Die - Chapter 152

As soon as I entered the commercial set, I saw an unwelcome ace.

“How have you been? You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

It was VTIC Cheongryeo.

‘It’s driving me crazy.’

Why is that here again?

For your information, I hadn’t heard about this from the company. I was in a hurry to get into a good commercial, so I only saw the script that was delivered to me.

If I am going to deal with someone I know, shouldn’t they tell me, at least?

“I want to quit.’

I really didn’t feel like working.

But if I made it obvious, it would be a rumor generator. Let’s just nod.

“Yes. Thanks to your advice, it worked out well.”

“Oh, really? That’s great.”

Cheongryeo smiled and held out his hand.

“Please take good care of me today.”

“I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

I didn’t do anything childish like putting in strength, so the handshake was over in an instant.

“Then I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Yes, sunbae-nim.”

I didn’t want to see him.

I changed my costume and prepared for the shoot, feeling strange when I thought of the script.

The outfit was a training suit that followed the recent trend. However, it had the company logo on it.

‘I already know why I’m wearing these clothes.’

First of all, the filming location was a grass field, and there was a lot of exercise during filming.

It was like this.

“Then, here we go!”

At the director’s words, a group of four-legged animals rushed to me and Cheongryeo, who were standing in the grass.

It was a group of three-month-old retrievers and country puppies.

“Woof!”

As I was patting their necks following the screen, one of them even jumped up to my nose and headbutted me.

‘They’re excited.’

Three or four of them jumped in one after another. Hey, don’t lick me.

I picked up the bulky lump with both hands.

…It looked cute.

“Pfft!”

Now it coughed on my face.

I almost fell while trying to clean up myself.

In a situation where I was covered in saliva, I tried not to look stiff while having four of five dogs in my head.

“Cut! Oh, that was good~”

“…Thank you.”

The staff ran to fix my messed-up face. We both had a hard time.

“Make the dogs feel more secure! As if you’re grabbing onto them~ Please smile sweetly!”

Right. ‘feel secure’ was important.

What I was filming was an insurance company advertisement.

To be precise, it was an advertisement for a corporate brand promoting the support of abandoned dogs and training of guide dogs at a large insurance company.

‘Usually, they use people who are well-known to the public for this kind of thing.’

However, an actor who originally got hired for my position was caught in a sexual harassment scandal and they used me instead.

My newly created popularity among middle-aged people due to might have had an influence to some extent.

“Good boy.”

…I didn’t think my external relationship with him didn’t have any impact at all… I didn’t like the aftertaste.

Even though the filming was stopped, Cheongryeo was suppressing the herd of dogs with his hands like some kind of spirit.

The sight of him rubbing their bellies easily stood out. There was no special photogenic effect.

‘I want to take a picture of it.’

But I didn’t bring my smartphone because I thought I didn’t need it. I didn’t want to look at him.

At that moment, Cheongryeo opened his mouth.

“Do you like dogs?”

“…I don’t dislike them.”

Coincidentally, the staff was gone. We didn’t have microphones because they only selected the scene and inserted the voice into the narration.

That meant it was the perfect time for this bastard to talk nonsense.

But my prediction was wrong.

“Isn’t that right? They’re really good kids. Good boy.”

“…”

“They’re also easy to deal with. Compliment them when they do good things and scold them when they do bad things.”

Cheongryeo just petted the dogs while talking about them.

Information reflexively flashed through my head.

-That hyung donated half of his settlement to the stray dog center.

No way, it was real?

No, it didn’t matter.

“I guess you really like dogs, sunbae-nim.”

I was going to buy time until the shooting resumed by responding appropriately.

But he tilted his head.

For normal people, usually… that gesture meant they were puzzled.

“Do I like them? I don’t know. It’s easier to not raise one anyway.”

Up to this point, I thought he meant it was troublesome to take care of a dog.

“In the past, I used to have a dog every time I started over, but after a while…There’s a rumor going around that I neglected my dog. “

“…!”

“I would have suspected me too. I checked, and apparently, I mentioned a different breed every time I spoke. Hmm, when they proved it wasn’t true, there were talks of schizophrenia… Hahaha, it was a total disaster at that time!”

Cheongryeo laughed out loud. I felt a chill run down my spine.

“…You didn’t have the same puppy?”

“Yes? Haha, it’s kind of hard to keep raising the same dog every time.”

“…”

Cheongryeo stopped laughing.

“I tried, but I didn’t particularly like it. It bothered me that I couldn’t bring it with me I screwed up.”

I was at a loss for words.

This bastard… The fact that I could understand why he turned insane was a problem.

I answered as calmly as possible.

“…You don’t have to start all over again, so I think you can try raising another one.”

In other words, just gives up.

“You’re full of confidence. Perhaps… Is this the last mission? Is it because you calculate it like I told you?”

“…”

It was best to not react.

But this bastard interpreted my silence as an affirmation.

“Congratulations, but do you believe it?”

“…!”

“Haha, I’m kidding. In my experience, that would be correct. I don’t lie about stuff like this.”

The thought of smashing the Grand Prize trophy to his face was comforting.

“…Hmm, then really… Is it going to be over?”

The expression on his face disappeared in an instant, and he removed his hand from the dog’s belly.

‘…Wait.’

Surely, he wouldn’t talk nonsense like ‘Try it once before it’s over’, or ‘there’s no chance once it’s over, the timing is now’.

Let’s start with the bait.

“If VTIC sunbae-nims maintain the status quo, there will be no groups that can compete with you. Isn’t the current situation the best?”

“Well… It’s all right.”

Cheongryeo was indifferent.

And I picked up the back of the dog.

“It’s not like I completely hate it… Hmm, well… That’s true. I have to get used to it.”

“…!”

It was a euphemistic declaration of surrender.

‘This sh*t is over.’

I felt like the span of my life was getting shorter. I wondered if cold sweat was running down my forehead.

However, Cheongryeo’s words didn’t end there.

“But hubae-nim, I think it’s better to not let your guard down too much.”

Please, I don’t want to hear any more nonsense.

I slowly petted the dog unwittingly. The dense furry was comforting.

And fortunately, Cheongryeo’s next words were not nonsense.

It was the voice of cold logic.

“In this profession, ‘popularity’ is a limited resource. In other words, if the other team earns good resources, yours is spilling. It’s always been like that. Especially if it is limited to Korea.”

“…”

No way, is it a comparison of VTIC and Testar?

However, an unexpected name popped up instead.

“The group from Traveler that debuted this year seems to be doing well. Pay attention to that.”

Traveler, Gold 1’s agency.

In other words, he was advising me to keep Gold 1’s group, a decent rookie, in check.

‘…Do I have to?’

They weren’t at the level that required me to keep them in check yet, and if I did this wrong, I might just end up giving them a narrative.

Besides, they debuted at a time period Cheongryeo didn’t know. That meant Cheongryeo didn’t confirm these guys’ future.

But there was no need to aggravate this bastard, so I just nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Don’t just talk, hmm.… The song is really nice. But the composer doesn’t belong to the company.”

Cheongryeo laughed.

“I wish I could buy the composer.”

“…!”

“It’s easy and convenient. If the song is bad, I just have to end it with them.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”

“You’re like a knife. All right. But don’t forget it.”

‘Why is this bastard so talkative?’

He blurted it all out as if he was receiving animal therapy with a bunch of puppies.

“Preparation for the next scene is almost done~ 3-minute standby!”

Fortunately, the sound of the filming resuming soon rang out everywhere. People were running around busily.

‘This is the end.’

The next cut was the last time I filmed with this bastard. I held back my sigh.

And right before filming resumed, I heard a small voice.

It sounded a little hesitant.

“…The problem you told me, did you solve it?”

“…”

I opened my mouth slowly.

“So so.”

“Is that so? Well… If you change your mind or have any concerns, contact me.”

“…All right.”

Well, he was less creepy than before.

“Woof! Woof!”

The shooting went off without a hitch. Cheongryeo finished filming first due to schedule problems and left.

And I returned to the dorm after accepting a few pairs of identical tracksuits that looked like just dog furry as gifts.

Perhaps everyone was away due to additional choreography practice, only one person who finished early was in the dorm.

It was Cha Eugene.

“I am home.”

“Gift?”

“Yeah. Take it.”

“Wow!”

I suffered from a strange sense of déjà vu when I saw Cha Eugene happily accepting the gift.

‘…Isn’t he more puppy-like than I am?’

Although I actively adopted it, it was a world of mysterious nicknames.

* * *

A few days later, the choreography of the title track was fully mastered.

“Hoo! The dance video is complete!”

“Ah, great~”

After finishing the shooting of the choreography video a bit early, we had some time left. Everyone lay down on the floor and took a break.

“Cha Eugene, you’re wearing that again?”

“It’s comfortable!”

“I-In the choreography video… W-Would it be okay for the logo to come out…?”

“Ah, I asked and they said it was okay. Don’t worry.”

“Wow, hyung-nim, you’re quick~”

Cha Eugene always wore the training suit that I had received for filming the advertisement as a gift.

‘I guess he’s going to shoot a commercial next time.’

I smiled and turned on my smartphone.

Pre-orders for the album had started, and the cover design was also released, so I thought I should monitor the reaction.

“M-Moondae. W-Would you like an ice pack?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Although the air conditioner was turned on, it was hot because the group moved too much. I turned over the screen while using the ice pack Seon Ahyeon handed over as a neck pillow.

‘It looks fine.’

Both the album covers, which were produced by dividing the concept into black and white of the ink painting concept and color of the traditional painting concept, were both well-received.

– I really like the traditional conceptㅍㅍ

– It’s the victory of those who patiently wait for hanbok

– I’m going crazy, looking forward to photo cards

At first, the company said crazy things like, ‘How about 8 albums with 7 solo members, 7 colors plus 7 songs?’ and it was hard to stop them.

‘I’m glad that we talked about putting in stickers randomly out of 8 types to decorate the album inside.’

If the eight types had passed as it was, the director would have given the approval without asking or arguing.

‘Come to think of it, the director is going to fly away soon.’

From new albums to entertainment stage productions, there were a lot of things to talk about with people at the company lately, so I heard a lot of rumors that the director would leave soon.

‘I’ll have to proceed quickly while the payment bot is still here.’

The future was uncertain, so I had to pull it off quickly while I could.

I inadvertently changed the monitoring search terms, checking the plan to resolve the status abnormality.

“D-Do you want some water?”

“Yeah… Thank you.”

Son Ahyeon gave another stuff. I took the water with some hesitation.

I am grateful, but somehow… You’re reminding me of a bread shuttle, I am sorry.

‘Should I monitor him?‘

I tried to search for Seon Ahyeon’s name on SNS without much thought.

Then the popular search word was done automatically.

[Seon Ahyeon dating]

“…?”

“Moondaemoondae, what…?!”

Keun Sejin, who had interrupted, froze as he looked at the screen.

And I was a little stunned, too.

‘Seon Ahyeon?’

Unexpectedly, it was a dating rumor.