Chapter 84

If I can't debut, I'll get a disease that will kill me 084th Chapter

“Hmmm…”

The living room of the dormitory had become quiet.

Most of them were already sprawled out, asleep, as the tension from winning first place and the alcohol had made the accumulated fatigue pour out.

The two minors had also dozed off and fallen asleep. Lee Sejin, perhaps due to physical issues, had already gone to his room halfway through.

He must have fallen asleep too.

So, the only ones left in the living room were…

“Are you okay, Moon?”

Just me and Ryu Cheong-woo.

He is strong with alcohol, and thanks to the ‘Bacchus 500’ trait, I was still able to keep my wits about me.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good to hear.”

Ryu Cheong-woo smiled and took a long sip of the beer in his hand.

‘How many cans has he had?’

It doesn’t really matter since he doesn’t seem very drunk, but he must have had more than six cans.

His alcohol tolerance was clearly immense.

“Um, how about the activities?”

“I can manage.”

“Haha, Moon, you’re always so calm.”

Ryu Cheong-woo put down the empty beer can neatly. His expression looked rather bitter.

‘Why is he like this again?’

We won first place, yet his face looked bad, as if he had some new worry.

“I wish I could be as calm as you.”

“…But you seem calm enough, don’t you?”

Considering his attitude for nearly two months after ‘Ajuza’ ended, it was a rather unexpected comment. But Ryu Cheong-woo shook his head.

“No, I think my judgment is poor at critical moments. Like when I couldn’t properly express my feelings after winning first place today… Overall, that’s how it is.”

“…?”

This is even more unexpected.

‘The first-place speech was already a mess, what’s the problem?’

“You did a good job as the leader from the start of the audition. I don’t think you had such issues.”

“I was the leader because I was the senior, not because I was good at it. The team didn’t really function well… except for the second round when we were together.”

That’s not really your fault, is it?

‘It’s just that you had terrible team luck.’

I took another sip of beer, feeling a bit uneasy.

“During ‘Ajuza,’ it was a short-term survival show, so it was rare for teams to function well. And Testa seems to be doing well, doesn’t it?”

“I’m worried that my mistakes might cause problems.”

Ryu Cheong-woo smiled bitterly.

“Honestly, I took on the role of leader because I thought I could contribute to the team in that position… but it feels like a limitation. I’m not the type to endure so much.”

“Hmm.”

No wonder his attitude became more conservative and moderate after Testa was formed. It seems he was holding back.

‘Thinking back to the second round, he was originally more adventurous and cheerful.’

The conflicts during ‘Ajuza’ must have had a strange learning effect.

Ryu Cheong-woo continued talking, as if he had a lot on his mind.

“I also had some doubts during ‘Ajuza.’ Whether coming here was the right choice…”

“…”

Now that I think about it, he won a gold medal in archery, so there was no reason for him to quit and appear on a failed audition show.

“How did you end up here?”

“Oh, I guess no one knows this. One of the ‘Ajuza’ producers was a relative.”

“…!”

Wait a minute.

“Was it Producer Ryu Se-rin?”

“Yeah. Did you recognize the surname right away?”

Ryu Cheong-woo laughed, but I couldn’t.

“She begged me so much… and I had already decided to change my career path, so I decided to give it a try.”

I broke out in a cold sweat.

‘If this gets out now, it could be a scandal…’

It wouldn’t matter if the audition had failed, but now ‘Ajuza’ Season 3 is a wildly successful program.

And one of the debut members is the producer’s relative?

‘Especially since Ryu Cheong-woo has always received favorable editing.’

This is a complete scandal.

Ryu Cheong-woo, who seemed to realize this, added with a smile.

“It won’t affect you guys. It’s a distant relative, and we barely knew each other. I got a sudden call one day… it was practically a casting call.”

It means that, formally, it’s no different from what Park Moon-dae received.

But when the news breaks, it won’t be presented so kindly.

It would probably be titled something like ‘Testa Member, Actually a Relative of Ajuza Producer’ or ‘Casting Call Relative Debuts… The Shadow of Ajuza’.

I managed to speak.

“…Don’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m telling you first.”

Producer Ryu Se-rin apparently called right after the first episode aired and strongly advised him.

‘…Just get through this period.’

By the time ‘Ajuza’ Season 3 ends, which is about… two or three years from now, it should be fine.

And if it doesn’t break during the broadcast, it means no one knows yet.

I confirmed with Ryu Cheong-woo again, just in case.

“How distant a relative are you?”

“Hmm… apart from being from the same Pungsan Ryu clan… I don’t even know how many generations apart. That much.”

“…”

If it comes to that, you can argue that it’s not a relative at all. You can say it was just easier to cast because you’re from the same clan.

I felt a bit more relaxed.

I don’t know what the next status effect will be, but it’s clear that the team shouldn’t face any more setbacks.

And other thoughts started to come to mind.

‘Now that I think about it, I’m also from the Pungsan Ryu clan.’

I’m not sure, as I haven’t paid much attention since my parents passed away, but I think I am.

If so, I probably have a similar seniority to Ryu Cheong-woo. Ryu Geon-woo, Ryu Cheong-woo.

Hmm.

‘The ‘U’ (佔) character is probably a generational name.’

So what? I shrugged.

“Strangely, I ended up telling you this… I usually don’t talk about these things with my juniors. Haha.”

“…”

He must have instinctively known I was older.

I changed the topic.

“So… if you got a casting call, you must have already prepared to be a singer.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t continue archery.”

Ryu Cheong-woo slightly shrugged.

“I had a serious car accident when I was young… and I developed aftereffects only after I grew up. My hand shakes when I try to use force.”

“…”

“So I quit last year… and tried to explore a new career path. Haha.”

His attitude showed the ease of someone who has already overcome it.

‘It’s a thing of the past.’

I just nodded.

At that moment, someone stirred beside my feet.

“…Sigh.”

“…??”

“I’m sorry. I heard…”

Cha Yoo-jin, who had been lying down, woke up with tears streaming down her face. Kim Rae-bin, who had been lying behind her, also stirred, sniffing.

“I accidentally woke up… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop…”

“No, it’s fine. Sigh.”

“…”

The two who hadn’t drunk alcohol quickly regained their senses.

Ryu Cheong-woo looked a bit flustered but soon laughed it off.

“It’s my fault for talking in the middle of the living room. Don’t worry, go back to sleep.”

But the two hesitated and spoke more.

“Brother, I’ll do better…”

“Cheong-woo brother is cool. You were a great idol!”

“…Hmm”

Ryu Cheong-woo nodded with a complex expression. I added.

“It seems you’ll listen better now. Maybe you can be a bit more relaxed from now on, Leader.”

“…Do you want to do it?”

“Huh? Of course, I’d quit halfway and fail.”

“…”

Me as the leader? I’d definitely snap and cut ties with a few of them.

Feeling the sincerity, Ryu Cheong-woo looked speechless, a bit bewildered.

“…Sigh”

But soon, he answered more relaxed.

“…Okay. I understand. I’ll continue being the leader.”

“Wow!”

“But you guys, if I try to do something unnecessary, stop me. I can’t just keep hitting the brakes.”

“Sure.”

Ryu Cheong-woo muttered, “I see,” then stretched and went to his room. His steps seemed lighter, as if he had unburdened himself.

And in the living room… only food waste and fallen bodies remained.

“…”

“…Should we go in?”

“Yes.”

They’ll go in when they wake up. Let’s leave them.

* * *

Right after Testa celebrated their first-place victory and released their pent-up emotions.

The fans held back until Testa’s first-place win became news and topped the real-time search trends, not wanting to ruin the team’s good news.

- Let’s keep sending inquiries

- If they’re smart, they’ll prepare on their own

The fans quietly continued to demand feedback through calls and emails.

However, after a few days, they received no response.

- These agency guys are clueless?

The simmering public opinion finally exploded, and the fans issued a statement to the agency.

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

[Statement Requesting Support for Artist Activities]

[On July 10, 202X, the Testa fan union criticizes the irrational management of T1Stars Entertainment and demands respect for the legitimate rights of artists and consumers (fans). Before debut…]

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

Since it wasn’t an issue involving a single member, the scale of the union grew wildly, involving all the individual fan communities of the members.

The fans, who were preparing to escalate to fax and post-it note protests if the statement didn’t work, fortunately received a response from the agency.

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

[Hello, this is T1Stars Entertainment.]

[We are doing our best to support Testa’s activities, and the concerns you have recently raised will be addressed promptly…]

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

It was a surrender statement.

Some fans felt annoyed by the slight implication that “We were already preparing, and you overreacted!” but the mood calmed down a bit with the promise of action soon.

- As expected, X agency only listens when pressured…

- Honestly, if you guys hadn’t caused this fuss, the fandom name would have only appeared during the second album, right? Haha, I think so too.

- Fan sticks are one thing, but please don’t mess up the comeback schedule. No matter how much money you make, stop squeezing the kids.

- If another “comeback in a month” article appears, I’ll send a protest truck, got it? Haha.

The agency tried to launch a ‘fans choose the fandom name’ event in the Ajuza style but was overwhelmed by the fans’ attacks.

- Please! Enough! Just let us do what we want! We’re tired of voting. Just let Testa do what they want. 😭

- Enough of the Ajuza ghost…

- Why do you keep asking fans to do things when you have genius idols who can create concepts on the spot? We just want to watch and cheer.

- We’ll just spend money, so hurry up and make some goods.

Fortunately, the agency didn’t test the waters and worked hard on the schedule.

So, that Friday.

[Welcome, National Shareholders!]

[Testa’s First W Live]

[Testa will give you a fan name!]

[7/15 (SUN) 3:00 PM]

The event banner was hastily put up.

- Wow, finally

- 😭😭😭😭 Our kids are finally doing a live stream!!

- Perseverance pays off!

- Big Sejin, talking in a live stream, aaaaah 😭

- Please, even if it’s boring, make it long.

- T1 guys, despite being a big company, they can still do their job. 😭

The fans, who had only seen Testa move in real-time on music shows, were very excited.

The Testa W app channel, which had yet to post a single preview video, started to see a surge in subscriptions.

And on the day of the event, at exactly 3:00 PM.

[Ah!]

[Hello~]

Testa turned on the W Live.