Debut or Die

The manager returned and reported the predictable, goal-hitting news.

“…You tried to report it to the police?”

“Yes. What kind of assault is this… I really sweated a lot.”

The first manager wiped off his cold sweat, saying the man almost gave us a strange rumor before the comeback. And he grumbled.

“Then why did I bother to contact him… Tsk.”

Those words were aimed at the second manager who was not present.

By the way, Lee Sejin wasn’t here because he was accompanying the agency to the interview.

“How did he get into the lobby?”

“At that time, on the way back from the hospital, Sejin said he would go to the practice room, so he came to the company. The guards said they let him in because he was a member’s parents.”

“Aha~”

Keun Sejin exclaimed, but his face didn’t look good.

‘It’s not a problem that can be blocked from the source.’

Family gossip could continue even if the person involved was disowned.

In addition, causing that much disturbance in the lobby, that man clearly wasn’t an ordinary person, so there was enough possibility that it could be a problem later.

“…Anyway, Sejin must have been surprised, so treat him well when he comes to the dorm.”

“Of course.”

“I understand.”

From an ankle injury to family issues, it was almost certain that he was having a hard time mentally.

The members nodded their heads, but they seemed to be worrying about the situation in their own way.

And soon after, Lee Sejin returned to the dorm wearing a half-cast.

It was the same situation as a few days ago, but the difference was not the lack of a companion.

Lee Sejin’s face was grim.

“…?”

As if they noticed that sign, the members hesitantly started talking.

“Sejin, um… Did the talk end well?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. …I am perfectly fine.”

Lee Sejin said as if he was determined, and then he steadfastly walked through the front door and headed for the kitchen.

And he drank a cup of water in one shot.

Gulp.

Lee Sejin put the cup down on the table and spoke after taking a deep breath.

“Tomorrow… I will apply for a restraining order.”

“…!”

“T-To your father?”

“Father my ass, that bastard got divorced when I was young, he doesn’t have custody…!”

Some members were taken aback when they heard Lee Sejin swearing for the first time.

“…Do you have any evidence?”

“It’s not like I’m applying for a grand prize. …I will do it for my mother.”

“…!”

“…Sigh.”

Lee Sejin sighed and explained the situation in moderation.

“…It seems he has been contacting my mother and extorting money ever since I became a bit popular as a child actor.”

However, it was said that his mother didn’t bother to reveal the situation to young Lee Sejin. He found out about this for the first time.

“He rarely did it after I took a break from my child activities, but… He started contacting her again when I came out on <Idol Inc.>.”

Lee Sejin swallowed and continued in a slightly shaky voice.

“I… I just thought they split up because of personality differences. He said he had a hard time, so I sent him money…”

It was said that the amount he demanded gradually increased, accompanied by subtle verbal abuse and threats.

“…Because the program worked so well, it had been like that almost every day since the later half of the program.”

Lee Sejin’s face turned pale as if he was recalling the time.

‘…Is that why you’d become especially sensitive since the 3rd competition?’

At that time, his mental state had already burst.

“…Then, I found out while talking openly with my mom on the last vacation.”

From the beginning, they were divorced because of his gambling and hand habits, and Sejin’s father continued to make financial threats.

“…”

There was a moment of anxious silence.

“…Then why are you still in contact with him…?”

“…I-If I moved recklessly, my mom… It could be a nuisance to the group. Already… I had a problem with my agency last time.”

Lee Sejin clenched his teeth and brushed his eyes vigorously.

“I’ve decided not to run away, so I’ll do whatever I can… That’s what I thought. …But it didn’t work out.”

“…”

“I apologize in advance, if I apply for a restraining order… An article might come out. The company said they’d try to stop it as much as possible, but…”

Lee Sejin bowed his head.

“If there’s a problem again… I’m sorry.”

“…!”

“Sejin, you don’t have to apologize for this.”

“I-It’s really fine…!”

Among the members who were at loss, Keun Sejin opened his mouth with a kind face as if he was sorry.

“Um… Hyung-nim, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t think anything will end with just applying for a restraining order, so shouldn’t we think of another method?”

“…I know.”

Lee Sejin swallowed.

“Therefore… I found out where he gambles.”

“-!! H-How?”

“…Is that important? Anyway, I’m going to call the police there.”

“Gasp!”

“Then he’ll go to jail. In the meantime, I can get the settlement and send my mom to a place with better security.”

“Oh!”

Among the admiring minors, I thought to myself.

‘Isn’t illegal gambling only getting a fine?’

Even if they got a sentence, I had only seen cases where it ended with probation.

In addition, it was also a matter of whether the police who received the report would believe it and send their men.

“…Isn’t it going to end with a suspended sentence?”

“I don’t think so. He used to cheat while working at a casino.”

“…!”

“I recorded everything he said to threaten me. A gangster or something like that… I can send it to the police anonymously if need be.”

It was said that he had a gambling problem, so I thought he was just addicted, but he turned out to be a full-fledged criminal.

Well, I understood Lee Sejin’s desire for cider and I got the big picture. However, in this case the situation would become more dangerous.

‘If a criminal goes around saying he’s Lee Sejin’s dad, it’ll hurt even more.’

As expected, it would be better to visibly cut off his relationship with Lee Sejin… Hmm. There was one thing I could think of.

‘I’m not sure if he’ll be okay with it.’

Let’s bring it up for now.

“I think we should stop someone with such a criminal record from borrowing hyung’s name and saying unnecessary things later. He might come out of prison and call himself hyung’s father and start an investment scam.”

“…!!”

“How about drawing a line here?”

“H-How…?”

I spun my finger.

“Hyung, change your name to your mother’s last name.”

“…!! Cough.”

“It will completely erase your connection with your father.”

Was it an unimaginable unconventional proposal?

Lee Sejin choked.

“Calm down.”

Lee Sejin added another glass of water to the glass he was drinking earlier. Lee Sejin drank it in a one-shot, then muttered with a bewildered face.

“That… That idea… I never thought about it.”

“Me, too.”

“M-Me, too.

Cha Eugene and Sun Ahyeon agreed blankly next to each other.

Keun Sejin seemed to search quickly on his smartphone and then nodded.

“Oh~ if you’re not a minor, you can do it without your parent’s permission. Still, It is said that a letter of opinion will be sent, so the perfect time would be when he gets distracted with the report of his gambling place! I think you should go for it.”

Lee Sejin made a mysterious face.

“…Then it will take quite a while, and it’s also a bit difficult to change it in the middle of our comeback activity…”

Mm, his worries were pointless.

“You can just use it as your stage name right away.”

“…!!”

“Ah, I see. Once you change your activity name, you can change your name naturally!”

Kim Raebin was impressed. And Lee Sejin still looked puzzled.

‘Well, if you suddenly have to change your last name, of course, you would be troubled.’

It was kind of funny that I, who had both my first name and surname changed, had that thought.

Anyway, he had a career built under that name since he was a child actor, so he had plenty of reasons to feel reluctant.

‘He can refuse.’

The moment I thought like that, Lee Sejin nodded solemnly.

“…It’s great! My last name doesn’t matter.”

His eyes were burning.

‘…It was the same gaze as when he looked at his smartphone a few days ago.’

Maybe it was a desire for cider.

Anyway, the members clapped at Lee Sejin’s bold declaration of the name change.

“Ooh!”

Lee Sejin turned his head as if embarrassed.

‘You’ve come to a conclusion.’

I immediately made an additional request.

“Make sure to tell the company to pick an article with the nuance that your parents were divorced for reasons credited to your father. Not openly, but just enough that it can be guessed between the lines.”

It meant don’t drag it out with aggro and don’t leave any opening.

Of course, the company would take good care of it, but there was nothing to lose if you grabbed it all at once and moved on.

Lee Sejin had an expression as if he was recalling something.

“…I thought about it last time, but you… No, it’s nothing.”

“…? Go on.”

“I said it’s nothing.”

Well, if you say so.

Ryu Chungwoo joined the conversation with a slightly awkward smile.

“In fact, apart from the purposes that have just been mentioned… I think it’s a good decision. The last name from a mother who loves you is much better than the one you got from someone like that.”

“…Right.”

“Anyway, thank you for making a difficult decision. Sejin.”

“…It’s not difficult.”

Lee Sejin must have used up half a year’s worth of social skills, he returned to his usual blunt tone.

“Ah, anyway. I’ll just call the company.”

“Yes!”

“I’m glad it ended well.”

“…Thank you.”

“Hehe.”

“You’ve worked hard~”

Keun Sejin also smiled and added a well-wishing remark.

He still didn’t seem to be very fond of Lee Sejin, but at least he didn’t seem annoyed this time around.

Lee Sejin seemed to have no time to be uncomfortable with Keun Sejin because he was so immersed in his task.

‘That’s good.’

There was no need to attach them together.

In that harmonious atmosphere, I threw a question that suddenly occurred to me.

“Come to think of it, what is your mother’s last name?”

Then Lee Sejin’s ears turned red.

What is it?

“…Bae.”

“Yes?”

“I said it’s Bae^[1]Actor=배우=Baeu. Hence, the reaction !”

“…!!”

…Turning around like that, Lee Sejin, the former child actor, really became Bae Sejin.

It was a relief that Bae Sejin himself seemed satisfied because it was a surname derived from his mother this time, not an abbreviation of the word actor.

It was the same name, but it was a little bit strange that such a different result came out just because of the perception of the receiving side… It was fun in theory.

But this wasn’t the most surprising part of the case.

It appeared in an Internet article that Bae Sejin looked up a few days later.

“This is it!”

Bae Sejin showed his smartphone to me with an unusually excited face.

“…?”

I read the article.

[ XXX City illegal gambling house operators are arrested… And checked for drugs]

: Gyeonggi-do Northern Police Station announced on the 12th that a gambling house was opened in the basement of a building in XX City on the 11th and arrested Mr. A (43) and five others for illegal gambling.

In addition, 2.2 kg of pill-type drugs were found inside the gambling establishment…

“…!!”

“What do you think? I don’t need to worry about it for years!”

“…Yes.”

I really don’t have to worry about it anymore.

It was the day the Schrödinger’s junkie was caught on his back feet.

* * *

And a few days later, it was around the time when Bae Sejin took off his half-cast and changed it to a light protector.

‘The music video teaser is coming out at midnight today.’

It was like a signal for a full-scale activity.

And now, the day had come when I had to make the choice I had been putting off.

The point distribution.

‘Status window.’

The points I could use were 3. I plan to keep one of them for an emergency and use the other two points.

The question was where to use it.

“Hmm.”

I decided where to distribute the points without thinking much about it.

And before actually raising the stats, I decided to do what I had to do first.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about changing the salon?”

It was an advanced version of what I had done during <Idol Inc.>.

• 1. Actor=배우=Baeu. Hence, the reaction