A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 353

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Original Intent Episode 353

“Use it in reverse?”

“Shouldn’t we pay back Hajun hyung for what he received? The bullying is the price the KICKS members will have to pay.”

At Gyeon Hajun’s interested question, Ryu Jaehee nodded and explained.

“We just need to pay back what they tried to use us for. So that Jung Iseo can’t use it to his advantage.”

Even though I was directly witnessing Ryu Jaehee solving what was quite a big incident right in front of me, our relationship improvement level hadn’t reached 100.

Was this not the cause of that missing 1%, or was this not enough? No, he looked trustworthy enough that I’d want to outsource my brain to him.

Was I barking up the wrong tree again?

More than anything, when it came down to it, my relationship improvement with Gyeon Hajun wasn’t something I had solved from 1 to 10 myself, so I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it.

“…Hyung? Eden hyung?”

At Ryu Jaehee’s voice calling me, I snapped out of my thoughts and blinked. I waved my hand as a signal to continue.

“Oh, yeah. I’m listening.”

“Hyung needs to find out when Jung Iseo plans to expose everything. We need to draw the line before then. It’ll be too late after he exposes it.”

If Choi Hyeonmin hadn’t spilled everything to Jung Iseo yet, that seemed entirely possible. I should prioritize keeping Choi Hyeonmin’s mouth shut first.

“Someone who sets up schemes like this wouldn’t just sit back and wait for things to burn up on their own with just the discord rumors triggered at Sports University without concrete evidence. He definitely has a D-Day in mind.”

Recalling the evidence Jung Iseo had collected for years since before debut in the pre-regression exposure, Ryu Jaehee’s speculation was spot on.

Although there was no direct verbal abuse or physical violence, the evidence Jung Iseo released was enough for KICKS to fall while receiving criticism.

Kim Dobin, who had been just listening to Ryu Jaehee’s explanation with his chin propped up, smoothly raised his hand. When everyone’s attention focused on him, Kim Dobin straightened his posture and spoke.

“Aren’t we overestimating him too much? That guy supposedly scratched at Hajun hyung at New Born too. But asking Eden hyung for help, who followed Hajun hyung out, doesn’t seem very smart from the start.”

To have his intelligence questioned by none other than Kim Dobin. Actually, that might be the greatest punishment Jung Iseo could receive.

Still, Ryu Jaehee, who had been lost in thought with his eyes downcast at Kim Dobin’s words that seemed to point out a flaw quite sharply, suddenly turned to look at me and asked.

“Eden hyung. Did you leave New Born right after Hajun hyung left?”

“No, I stayed a bit longer.”

“Then did you ever train with Jung Iseo as a trainee?”

“Yeah. It was really short though. But why are you asking?”

Anyway, we did train together as debut group members for over a week, so I couldn’t say there was nothing.

“If there was a connection between you and Jung Iseo, there must be a reason why Jung Iseo approached you first, volunteering to be an internal whistleblower despite the demerit of Hajun hyung being by your side.”

Ryu Jaehee’s eyes lit up as if he had found the answer.

“He must have felt something about hyung during that short time. For example, that you’re someone reliable, or someone who definitely repays good information like internal tips.”

Gyeon Hajun and Kim Dobin also nodded in agreement. Only Seo Yehyeon was glancing at me with an utterly ambiguous expression.

But I couldn’t grumpily snap at Seo Yehyeon asking why he was looking at me like that, as usual.

The way I had treated Jung Iseo back then was something at least Gyeon Hajun and Ryu Jaehee had never directly witnessed.

“How do you think you’d feel if someone called you a parachute to your face and went cr… I mean, went crazy?”

I asked while awkwardly scratching the back of my head.

“If you directly witnessed me unable to put on a cheerful act of eating from the same pot as that parachute bas… bastard, taking off my snapback and throwing it on the floor, then storming out of the practice room?”

Back then, I was extremely sensitive after Gyeon Hajun was so helplessly kicked out of the debut group, and Jung Iseo, the parachute who was practically the cause, was a thorn in my eye.

So my impression on Jung Iseo back then, when I didn’t even bother hiding those feelings in front of him, must have been the worst.

“Oh, pre-reformation Eden hyung.”

“Hmm, uh… My prediction was completely wrong. I overlooked that hyung back then wouldn’t have had the same personality as now, but your pre-debut personality.”

Next to Gyeon Hajun, who was smiling contentedly, Ryu Jaehee rubbed his forehead.

“I can answer that very precisely. My guess is probably almost correct, right?”

Seo Yehyeon confidently lifted his chin.

“Though it wasn’t the exact wording ‘parachute,’ from my perspective having experienced you spitting out defamatory statements to my face, muttering curses about how you couldn’t stand it anymore in front of me, throwing your hat on the floor, and storming out of the practice room, well…”

Seo Yehyeon, his face full of a bright smile, poured out his words as if he’d been waiting for this moment, then deliberately paused at the end. Is he doing this to make me feel guilty…?

“Wouldn’t you have wanted to pay back that humiliation somehow, no matter how long it took?”

Seo Yehyeon smirked and wiggled his finger.

“I endured it because we’re on the same team, thinking that any revenge would just be self-destructive, but the problem is that Jung Iseo, who heard those words from you, is on a different team from you. He has no reason to endure it like I did.”

“Now that I think about it, it was strange!”

Bang-!

I slammed my fist on the dining table and shot up from my seat as the mystery finally seemed to unravel.

“Even though he wouldn’t have had good memories with me, he deliberately approached me first, pretending to be a whistleblower and acting like he was helping!”

Though it was a strange point I hadn’t realized before regression, and a doubt I hadn’t had until Ryu Jaehee and Seo Yehyeon brought it up just now, thinking about it now, it was extremely suspicious.

“How fortunate that you’re only realizing this now.”

Seo Yehyeon clapped with an expression like he was looking at the world’s biggest fool.

So the whistleblowing wasn’t just goodwill! I was also in that parachute bastard Jung Iseo’s revenge bag!

“There’s a high probability he figured out back then that hyung lives and dies by loyalty. The fact that hyung is as transparent as he is simple is something you can tell just by watching him for a few days.”

Ryu Jaehee corrected his deduction.

“So he used whistleblowing as a key to drive a wedge between KICKS and hyung, and made it so he could build something like a bond with hyung. I mean, passing along gossip could be considered… part of loyalty…?”

“If the KICKS members hadn’t been talking behind the backs of the hyungs and us, that parachute senior wouldn’t have even thought to use Eden hyung like that. Half of it is KICKS’ responsibility.”

Kim Dobin made another correct observation after a long time.

“He would have noticed from hyung’s attitude toward him that Hajun hyung hadn’t told hyung the detailed story. Because if hyung had known, he wouldn’t have continued contact so readily.”

“Really… hearing it like this, it’s so disgustingly tangled. If Yoon Eden had been a bit more perceptive or if Hajun had been the type to open up about what’s in his heart, this could have been easily resolved.”

Seo Yehyeon clicked his tongue.

“Then how did he get revenge on Eden hyung? What was the revenge?”

“Knowing the behind-the-scenes story, that evening Choi Hyeonmin didn’t call Eden hyung, so if Yehyeon hyung hadn’t pushed Hajun hyung, and if we hadn’t found out the whole story and exploded like this, from what I can see, the relationship between these two would have gradually headed toward disaster from that day.”

So the Jung Iseo from before regression succeeded in that revenge?

I had a bitter taste in my mouth. If I hadn’t expressed my emotions so freely, could the pre-regression me and Gyeon Hajun have avoided getting caught up in that revenge plot?

“Since I didn’t know there was such a behind-the-scenes story, I thought what Hajun hyung did at Sports University wasn’t that big a deal at the time. I was thinking only about using barbarians to control barbarians, not even knowing our own house was on fire.”

Seeing Kim Dobin’s expression still showing he didn’t understand, Ryu Jaehee conducted some perspective-taking education.

“Try thinking of yourself in Hajun hyung’s situation. Are you confident you wouldn’t feel hurt by Eden hyung?”

“If I were in Hajun hyung’s situation… hmm…”

Kim Dobin, who had been seriously immersed in thought, suddenly looked at me like I was a scumbag who abandoned a pet dog.

“So this is when you use the phrase ‘ignorance is also a sin.'”

“Shut up, man. It’s over now that we’ve resolved our hurt feelings with each other. Right, Jun?”

Gyeon Hajun nodded his head in response instead of answering.

“Then was Jung Iseo also the first one to tell you about that gossip? You know, when you poured out all that stuff about KICKS guys talking behind your back in early debut days.”

I nodded at Gyeon Hajun’s question. Since the pre-regression Jung Iseo was still Jung Iseo, I wasn’t exactly lying.

After finishing our discussion about countermeasures, I called Choi Hyeonmin as soon as I entered my room.

-Hello? Eden hyung, didn’t you ask Hajun hyung? Iseo hyung’s expression is still triumphant?

“Did you tell Jung Iseo? That you told me that fact?”

-No, not yet.

“Good. Don’t tell him.”

Choi Hyeonmin seemed flustered and started to say something as if to ask a question, but I didn’t bother listening and just said what I had to say.

“And put Kwon Yunseong on. Without Jung Iseo knowing.”

I could faintly hear conversation sounds through the handset, and after a little time passed, Kwon Yunseong’s voice came through the handset clearly.

-What’s going on.

“Did you know too? That Jung Iseo intentionally stole Gyeon Hajun’s spot?”

Kwon Yunseong fell silent for a moment at my direct question, then answered in a heavy voice.

-How could I not know. It’s a fact that Hyeonmin revealed when he gathered all the kids at the dormitory on the day you left NewBorn.

I let out a deep sigh and asked.

“So you ostracized Jung Iseo?”

-I don’t know about the other guys, but at least I…

Kwon Yunseong trailed off with a choked voice, then let out a bitter laugh and said.

-You hated Jung Iseo too. For being the reason Gyeon Hajun got kicked out of the debut group.

No, fuck, why am I coming up here? Am I KICKS?

-I felt the same way. If it weren’t for him, I could have debuted with you. Only then could I understand your heart that was jumping around so much after Gyeon Hajun got kicked out. Isn’t it ridiculous?

“Hey, you didn’t do anything right either. That’s all just excuses. If you didn’t like it, you should have staged a group boycott or laid down in the CEO office, not ostracized him.”

-I know. But I could never be a crazy bastard like you who kicks out of the debut group even if I died and came back to life, so just ignoring Jung Iseo was all I could do. Even knowing it would definitely become a problem later.

“‘Later’ my ass. The time bomb is about to explode right now, man.”

When I spoke irritably while roughly running my hand through my bangs, Kwon Yunseong spat out in a voice that had regained his characteristic composure.

-Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. This should be enough of an apology to you and Gyeon Hajun, right?

“What?”

-That Jung Iseo intentionally pushed out Gyeon Hajun and got in.

I unconsciously hesitated at the unexpected words.

-Right now it’s only linked as discord rumors, but if we reveal this fact to refute it, you guys will also be officially involved and go up and down together. I’m saying I won’t let that happen. Isn’t that why you contacted me?

What are the chances that this fact was buried and never came to light for the same reason even before the regression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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