Debut or Die - Chapter 476
After six years since debut, a member left without notice. It was a chilling situation.
As the elevator carrying STier Cha Eugene descended, I immediately dashed down the stairs, but it was already too late. No matter how good my reflexes were, I couldn’t match the speed of the elevator in this high-rise building. And so… the company was turned upside down in the middle of the night.
“…What?”
The news, which started with the manager team leader’s incredulous question, eventually reached the president’s ears, waking almost every employee and sending them scouring Seoul like a fine-toothed comb.
Of course, we were no exception. Ryu Chungwoo, with a hardened face, had been running back and forth between the security office and the dormitory since earlier.
“Did you check the CCTV?”
“It shows him walking to the front gate, but after that, it’s too dark to see. It looks like he took a taxi…”
“…”
To track that taxi, we’d have to file a report with the police about a missing person. Of course, doing that would be insane. Unless we wanted to see this on the front page of entertainment news tomorrow morning.
Damn it. I felt like biting my tongue.
I kept monitoring social media in real time, trying to think of places this guy might go. Last time, we caught him when he ran off during the tour.
If you know the person well, you can roughly deduce their movements. But…
“…”
The problem is, I don’t know him well. Because he’s STier’s Cha Eugene.
Yeah. I’ll admit it.
Before becoming Testar’s Park Moondae. office worker Ryu Gunwoo had a significant interest in STier and kept up with them. So, even in the hospital room, I recognized that this Cha Eugene was the same guy from STier.
But that doesn’t mean I know him as a person. Everything I know about STier Cha Eugene has been processed through the media Information about idols, that is. There’s no way I would know the places that person personally prefers or frequents. Besides…
“…Well, it seems like no one else is going to say it, so I guess I will.” Keun Sejin said with a wry smile, ruffling his hair. “…You know we have a group schedule tomorrow evening, right?”
“…”
“An event.”
That’s right.
Tomorrow is almost the last domestic group schedule for this activity. The summer festival.
“We already announced that Eugene would be absent, but if we stay up all night looking for Eugene and mess up the performance… I think that’s a problem too.” Keun Sejin was spot on.
The only alternative would be to cancel the event entirely, but… Can TeSTAR-level headliners cancel such a large event on the day? It’s dirty to say, but the impact of a cancellation varies depending on the event’s name value.
And tomorrow’s event is…
“Waterbomb.”
“…”
We’re screwed. Damn it.
If we cancel on the day, we’ll be roasted alive. No excuse will work.
The moment we cancel, it will definitely make headlines. And even if we don’t cancel and manage to pull off the event if word gets out that Eugene, who was supposed to be sick, was seen wandering around outside…
-Is Cha Eugene crazy? Get a grip. All the fans are going to leave. LOL, I’m out first.
-This is why you shouldn’t have foreigners in K-pop. They always pull this crap.
-Yes, yes, Eugene Ignacio Cha, stop taking dirty Korean money and go back to America.
Eugene already had a history with the camera assault incident. This would be a one-way ticket to ruin. A barrage of unfiltered verbal abuse and personal attacks would rain down like a storm.
…What do we do?
The problem is, I don’t have a damn answer right now. Other than to keep searching, that is.
But by the time morning came, there was still no news of Cha Eugene.
“…”
Of course, no one had a good night’s sleep in their beds. Half of them had already rushed to the company.
I, too, greeted the dawn in the living room with sleepless eyes. I rubbed my smartphone, lost in thought. My head was spinning.
If it’s going to be like this…
Maybe it would have been better if the album hadn’t done so well. At the time, I thought it was the best decision, but now, what will happen to Cha Eugene’s career? How am I supposed to handle this?
“…”
My head ached.
There’s too much to do. Even if we find Cha Eugene… I don’t know where to start or how to handle it.
The company, public opinion, activities. I don’t even know what to do with him for the next month. I can only think of extreme measures.
I pressed my eyelids. It was then.
Thud. A glass of cold water was placed on the table in front of me. As if to say, drink it.
“…”
I picked it up and drank the water.
The person who placed the glass sat across from me… It was Bae Sejin. Maybe he thought it was his fault that Cha Eugene left. His appearance wasn’t great either. No, he didn’t look good at all.
“Hyung, the day after tomorrow… no, there’s filming tomorrow too. You should get some rest.”
“It’s fine. I’ve done overnight shoots before,” Bae Sejin spoke firmly but soon lowered his head with a slightly confused expression. “I just… don’t understand why he did this.”
“…”
“No matter how different his experiences have been over the years… that Cha Eugene is still Cha Eugene. I never thought he’d do something like this.”
Something like this.
In fact, even though Cha Eugene might seem like someone who does whatever he wants, he is considerate enough to help when someone is really in trouble. No, he was the kind of guy who would naturally handle things without making it obvious that he was being considerate.
Even Bae Sejin must have thought he was that kind of guy, so hearing him say he doesn’t care what happens to anyone must have been shocking. It must have been bewildering.
Yeah. From the perspective of someone who doesn’t know the full story, it’s hard to understand how much stress Cha Eugene is under in this environment. He quit being an idol, and now he’s suddenly experiencing a successful version of himself for 30 days. Wouldn’t that drive anyone crazy?
I should have handled it with more care. Focusing on getting through these 30 days safely and returning Cha Eugene to his original state, I neglected to properly take care of his mental health.
“…”
My head felt heavy.
As silence filled the room.
“Hey.”
A low voice was heard.
“Do you really think so?”
When I looked up, a pale-faced figure was cautiously sitting on the sofa. It was Kim Raebin.
“I don’t think Cha Eugene did this to deliberately make things difficult for us.”
“…!”
Bae Sejin lifted his head.
“…I hope so too. But you heard him. He said he didn’t care about TeSTAR.”
“Y-Yes, but… I don’t think saying it’s not his business means he intentionally wants to sabotage us.”
“Huh?”
“Did Cha Eugene say he would freely harm TeSTAR’s career?”
“No, but… given the situation, if he doesn’t care, that’s what will happen naturally.”
“…”
Wait a minute. It felt like I got hit on the head in a good way, probably.
“Hold on a second.”
“…! Park Moondae?”
“I think Raebin might be right.”
I picked up my smartphone with a clearer mind. It was still quiet. That meant there was no news from Cha Eugene. But if I put it the other way… it meant there were no sightings of him either. Does that make sense?
It’s been over five hours since Cha Eugene ran out. He doesn’t even have a car. So, no matter how lucky he is… is it possible for a celebrity with the level of recognition like TeSTAR to wander around outside without a single sighting?
It would be Impossible. Unless he’s being careful himself.
“Cha Eugene is moving around without getting noticed by people right now.”
“…!”
“If he really wanted to cause trouble for TeSTAR, he would have gone to a club or something, but that’s not the case.”
It means he’s moving around as he would habitually avoid people as an idol. I don’t know if he’s still trying to keep some boundaries or what…
I unconsciously recalled the things he had said.
“But where I live after that is up to me. It’s my body, and I’ll do as I please. OK?”
“Your so-called consideration has a purpose. It’s not consideration; it’s control. Control.”
“…”
Could it be… that he’s scared?
At that moment, Kim Raebin cautiously raised his hand again. “I don’t know if I should say this, but….”
“Feel free to speak.”
“…! Yes.”
Kim Raebin answered with a serious expression. “I think we need to have more conversations with that Cha Eugene.”
“…”
Bae Sejin mumbled in a gloomy voice. “…It didn’t work.”
“Pardon? Ah, I think I made too broad a choice in my wording! So…” Kim Raebin seemed to be choosing his words carefully and then corrected himself. “I think we’ve been trying to persuade that Cha Eugene rather than having a conversation.”
“…!”
“Or perhaps it was a conversation with the purpose of persuasion.
But since there was no conversation without a purpose, it was hard to build trust between us.”
“…”
“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
Probably both Bae Sejin and I were looking at Kim Raebin with almost astonished eyes.
It was a very sharp analysis. It was so much to the point that it was hard to believe it was coming from someone who was usually so clueless about interpersonal relationships.
“…Ahem, I think you’re right.”
“…! Yes. I think it was a natural flow because we were concerned about the members.”
I looked at Kim Raebin. This guy must have a lot on his mind too. For someone who usually finds it difficult to hide his feelings or guess others’ thoughts, he must have gone through several stages to come to such a conclusion. So that’s why he’s been unusually quiet lately.
Kim Raebin seemed confused by the situation, but he seemed confident in his words. “I don’t know what that Cha Eugene is thinking either… so I want to find out.”
“…”
I looked at him and nodded. “Alright.”
“…!”
“I agree too.”
I’m curious about what that guy is thinking. Since we’ve already crossed the line, it might be better to just lay everything out and talk.
“Thank you!”
That’s what we should be doing anyway.
And then.
“Anyway, we need to find him first to do that.”
“…Yes.”
I turned on my smartphone screen again. Since I noticed that this guy seems to be moving around without drawing attention, the list of possible locations has narrowed down a bit. Both the means of transportation and the destination.
“Somewhere an idol might go.”
Bae Sejin nodded at my words.
“Then… we can narrow it down based on what we know.”
Focusing on the information we have about Cha Eugene, who participated in <Idol Inc>. The person who knows him best is obvious.
“Do you know any places Cha Eugene used to go when he was a trainee?”
It’s Kim Raebin.
He answered earnestly with a serious face. “He seemed to prefer places with a lot of people!”
“…”
That’s a bit…
“…Can you be more specific?”
“Outdoor cafes with good views or barbecue restaurants… It seemed to be noisy and open spaces. Ah, he seemed to prefer outdoors over indoors anywhere!”
“Ah, that sounds like places that remind him of his hometown.”
We narrowed it down like that. Then, the thought came up.
If he wants to escape from here for a while. There’s a chance he went far away.
“Did he ever go outside of Seoul during his trainee days?”
“Except for my family home… Hmm, he did go to the beach once.”
“The beach?”
“It was Ganghwa Island.”
“…!”
At that moment, something overlapped in my mind. Cha Eugene lived near the beach in San Diego. Even when he ran away from the tour, we found him at a café near the beach. And…
“That guy… he came to Ganghwa Island in that variety show during STier.”
The beach at Ganghwa Island. It was the first filming location for STier’s variety show.
“…There.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s search there.”
And two hours later.
“Cha Eugene!”
STier’s Cha Eugene meets his friend.