Chapter 45

If I can't debut, I'll get a disease that will kill me - Chapter 045

“……”

I carefully removed my hand from the doorknob of the one-room apartment, making sure not to make a sound.

I had definitely double-locked the door before leaving for filming, but when I returned, all the locks were undone?

‘Here it comes.’

This is the kind of problem that comes with fame. The invasion of privacy edition.

I had already been worried about this. I just left it as it was because there were no other financial solutions.

‘…At least, there’s nothing important inside.’

I hadn’t bought much, and I had already brought all the clothes I needed for filming, so there was nothing of value in the one-room.

‘Then, I’ll just quietly leave and…’

Just as I thought that, my smartphone rang.

Beep!

[Seon Ah-hyeon]

The moment I saw the name on the screen, I realized the problem.

The walls of this one-room are as thin as paper, so there’s no soundproofing.

‘Damn it.’

I quickly moved away from the door.

And immediately ran towards the emergency exit.

As soon as I turned the corner and entered a blind spot, I heard the door open.

Creak.

I poked my head out through the crack in the door and saw the back of a woman’s head as she looked around and entered.

She looked like a normal person. I had never seen her before, but the problem was that she was breaking into someone else’s home.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

‘I’m in trouble.’

I first went down the emergency exit stairs to take the call.

The caller was indeed Seon Ah-hyeon, as the screen had shown.

- Hey, um, have you eaten yet…?

“I haven’t, but I don’t think it’s a good time for me to eat right now.”

- Huh, huh?

“Someone is breaking into my home.”

- Huh, huh!

In the background, I could hear Seon Ah-hyeon gasping and her parents asking what was going on.

Normally, I would have made up an excuse and hung up, but this wasn’t a situation where I could just brush it off.

‘I need to ask for a ride to the police station.’

If I call 112 and the police come, the neighborhood will be in an uproar, and there might be unnecessary rumors.

I’m at the final stage, so I don’t need to give any unnecessary reasons for trouble.

So, I planned to go there myself, explain the situation, and quietly hand it over.

‘I thought it would take a while to call a taxi, but this is actually better.’

- Wait, wait. We’ll come right away. Come down! We need to report it…

“I’m planning to go there myself. Sorry, but can you give me a ride to the police station?”

- Of course!

I went down the stairs while talking to Seon Ah-hyeon.

I really have experienced all sorts of things.

* * *

Fortunately, everything went smoothly after that.

Thanks to Seon Ah-hyeon and her parents, who were more shocked than I was, we could immediately file a report at the police station.

- Yes? Ah, a woman…

- I don’t know her.

- Ah, I see.

The police seemed a bit indifferent but still responded.

And here’s what was revealed.

‘I didn’t think it would be just one person.’

There were four people inside the one-room. They had ransacked the place and were casually using the dishes and clothes.

It turned out that a few of them, who had a history of stalking other idols, had teamed up to follow me and break into the poorly secured one-room.

‘I never imagined this.’

I rubbed my shoulder awkwardly.

The bigger problem was that the police consistently showed no real interest in making arrests.

‘Did I just have bad luck with the neighborhood?’

The four people, even when caught, kept trying to talk to me and smiled foolishly without showing any tension.

- Hey!

- Moon Dae, can’t you hear me?

- You can hear, right? Answer me!

- Park Moon-dae!

‘They’ll probably just get a warning or a fine.’

I really need to move out of this one-room.

“Moon Dae, are you okay?”

“Huh? Ah, I’m fine.”

Seon Ah-hyeon nervously picked up and put down her chopsticks. It was embarrassing for me to be eating at their expense.

After everything was over, I learned the following:

- We decided to eat out nearby. Do you want to join us…?

- Ah, so that’s why you called.

- Yes!

Thanks to that, I ended up joining Seon Ah-hyeon’s family for dinner.

‘This place has good ribs.’

I silently brought a piece of meat to my mouth. I need to eat well since I didn’t get much sleep.

“Goodness, there are really strange people these days. How could they do such a thing…?”

“Shouldn’t we call your parents?”

Seon Ah-hyeon’s parents, who seemed very shocked, repeated this conversation pattern several times.

Hmm. I thought for a moment but decided to tell the truth.

Since I’ve received a lot of help today and even got a free meal, I should at least show some sincerity in my response.

“Because of an accident in the past… I don’t have parents.”

Huh. I glanced at Seon Ah-hyeon’s father, who had gasped, while his mother quietly asked:

“Is there an adult you can contact?”

“Not really… no one comes to mind.”

Not only do I not know anyone since I entered Park Moon-dae’s body, but ‘Park Moon-dae’ also didn’t seem to have any guardians.

‘Looking at it now, we really are similar.’

It was interesting to think about. I wondered if the similarity in background was one of the reasons I entered Park Moon-dae’s body.

But the atmosphere at the table was sinking like a swamp, so I needed to fix it first.

“I haven’t been like this since I was very young. It’s a result of various circumstances… but I’m not having any particular problems now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Seon Ah-hyeon’s mother smiled instead of making a fuss.

“That’s good. Living alone must be busy, but I’m really grateful that Ah-hyeon has been taking good care of you.”

“No, I’ve received a lot of help.”

“……”

I thought Seon Ah-hyeon would jump up and deny it, but she was silent. Looking back, she was flipping the meat with her mouth tightly closed.

‘Now that I think about it, did she not know I don’t have parents?’

Reflecting on it, I had only told the production team and it hadn’t been covered on the show.

So, she must have been quite shocked, but she was trying not to show it.

‘Maybe she wants that kind of reaction.’

Now that I think about it, maybe the reason Ah-hyeon followed ‘Park Moon-dae’ around in the early stages of filming was because of this.

‘Maybe it was because I handled her symptoms appropriately during the first ranking evaluation.’

The speculation seemed to fit.

‘But it’s not a crucial deduction.’

I shrugged and continued to eat the meat. Since there was no other option, I would spend the night in that one-room and look for a new place tomorrow.

However, right after the meal, an unexpected lifeline was thrown to me.

“Go back there again?”

“Since they were caught, they probably won’t come back today.”

“But still…”

When I mentioned I planned to return to the one-room, Seon Ah-hyeon and her family were shocked and started whispering. Eventually, they agreed that I could stay at Seon Ah-hyeon’s place until the next filming.

“……?”

I don’t know what it is, but it’s a huge gain, so I’ll just follow along.

* * *

While Park Moon-dae was enjoying the unexpected upgrade in living conditions, on the internet, people who had attended the live viewing were going crazy with spoilers.

The program was doing so well that the non-disclosure agreement was no longer effective.

The most mentioned individual was Cha Yoo-jin, but the team that dominated the discussion was the ‘Dal Ttoki’ team.

- Putting that in the opening was so unfair to the next team.

- There’s a reason they ranked high! They were all amazing.

- The internet goes wild when they perform.

- Why is Seon Ah-hyeon getting hate? She did great.

While many tried to suppress the negative comments about the ‘Dal Ttoki’ team, the live viewing confirmations kept pouring in, and the haters quietly disappeared.

And there, a named fan account operator of Park Moon-dae, who had not won a live viewing ticket and spent the day in a daze, was present.

The person who had secretly hidden a camera during the first team battle and settled into Park Moon-dae’s body.

‘Is my network really this lacking?’

Since the fan base for the survival show participants was still forming, the named account had tried to avoid excessive camaraderie, but it resulted in a loss of information.

She clicked on the current popular post with trembling hands.

=========================

[I went to the live viewing. (Photos included) (361)]

: This was my first time, so I was nervous, but seeing Moon-dae’s face alone was worth it. 😭

Moon-dae appeared in the first team, wearing a rabbit mask and hanbok. It looked like a fusion fantasy period drama character. He was so cool that I couldn’t help but take a quick photo. 😭

And the performance was amazing. It was so good that my heart is still racing. 😭

The singing was really at a human level, and the dancing was also great. I don’t know what the haters are seeing.

I’ll write a detailed review below!

……

=========================

She read the post word by word and, unable to resist, quickly scrolled down when she saw the mention of photos.

There was a photo of Park Moon-dae’s upper body, wearing a rabbit mask and a blue hanbok.

“Ugh!!”

The blonde Park Moon-dae, wearing a dark blue hanbok against a starry background, was so handsome that it made her heart ache.

‘Should I buy the data…?’

She muttered, unable to contain her sadness. However, the data sellers usually only sold such content after it was aired due to legal concerns.

The more she imagined seeing that appearance, either in the 9th episode preview or the 10th episode, the more her head spun.

“…I’ll just look at the ads… for now…”

She brought up a new ad design to post before the final episode, trying to calm herself.

‘But, if I use that photo in this ad! It would be great!’

And she screamed again, logging into her SNS.

Her routine of searching for live viewing reviews continued until the 9th episode preview was released.

* * *

Living at Seon Ah-hyeon’s place provided a qualitatively different life compared to living in the one-room.

Of course, there was a headache with the one-room owner over the damaged front door lock, but that was something that had happened regularly before I entered Park Moon-dae’s body, so it didn’t really bother me.

The important thing was that I could sleep in a mold-free room, and the soundproofing was good, so I could sleep without earplugs.

However, the joy of a quiet environment was not something I could enjoy today.

“Why were you all having fun without me!”

Because Daesejin had come to visit.

Daesejin, who had been chatting in the group chat about watching the 9th episode together, suddenly sped over when she heard I was staying at Seon Ah-hyeon’s place and