A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 399

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

A Regression Guide for Idols Who Lost Their Initial Intentions Episode 399

“Was that drunken honesty something you don’t even remember? I remember everything, so I thought you were avoiding me because of it.”

When I deliberately spoke in a light, teasing tone, Ryu Jaehee desperately tried to cool his flushed face by fanning himself with his hand while denying it.

“It’s because I resent hyung for saying such things so carelessly and easily, and I also hate myself for actually accepting to some degree that such a thing could really happen after hearing those words, for those complex reasons…”

“I’m being honest now, and while I admit I was insensitive, those weren’t words I said easily.”

“I know. Since hyung met Ryu Jaekyung once too, you must have seen clearly how rotten that bastard’s character is.”

Ryu Jaehee let out a deep sigh, saying he shouldn’t have shown me something unnecessary. But even if Ryu Jaehee hadn’t deliberately shown me his first brother, that bastard would have been a target of caution because of the incident before my regression.

“I know hyung said those things out of concern for me in your own way. But reason and emotion can’t always align, you know.”

“Alright, alright. It’s my fault for not speaking delicately.”

“Hyung can’t speak delicately anyway.”

Ryu Jaehee hit me painfully with facts. Are you getting revenge right now?

“Hmm… Where should I start this story? Should I start with Doby hyung first?”

What does me not being a perfect person have to do with Kim Dobin? Whether I had questions or not, Ryu Jaehee started his story.

“Doby hyung dances well as befits a main dancer, and his strength is that he’s definitely funny when he does unintentional comedy. He also has the talent to lighten a heavy atmosphere with about a 50% success rate.”

What? As much as 50%? Isn’t that rating him too highly?

In my memory, there were more times when Kim Dobin got scolded for being oblivious rather than actually lightening the mood.

“He also has a clear character established in this group called Rev. Lucky Dobin, fake youngest.”

Though the latter was a title he gained semi-forcibly as Ryu Jaehee grew rapidly. At first, he hated that nickname, asking why he was the youngest, but now he goes around calling himself the fake youngest.

Then what about his flaws? As soon as I became curious, Ryu Jaehee opened his mouth again.

“But his intentional comedy is ghostly unfunny, he’s sometimes breathtakingly oblivious, and his lacking vocals are his shortcomings.”

Such harsh criticism poured out that I was grateful Kim Dobin wasn’t here. I could guarantee that if Kim Dobin had heard this, he would have definitely shed a few tears.

Curious about how he would evaluate me and the other members with such merciless assessment, I waved my hand to signal him to continue.

The next batter was Gyeon Hajun.

“Hajun hyung’s outward appearance itself is his strength. His mature and kind but never easy-going impression and personality?”

I nodded in agreement. That was the aspect of Gyeon Hajun I had relied on most.

“Not only that, but his vocal ability is excellent, and his dance skills are good too. As for his acting ability, we’ll properly find out through this drama filming, but even from the previous acting competitions and deception content we filmed, his talent was clearly visible. Oh, and he cooks well too.”

Just like before, I nodded while thinking. Gyeon Hajun certainly has many strengths.

“But Hajun hyung is also the hardest to understand in terms of his true feelings or boundaries. He’s also quite stubborn about pulling things in the direction he wants. Oh, and there’s also the avoidant tendency that was revealed in this Parachute incident.”

The flaws of Gyeon Hajun that Ryu Jaehee listed were all things I could accept, so the credibility increased even more.

“And it’s awkward for me to say this myself, but I’m better at vocals than him, aren’t I? Since I’m the team’s main vocal after all?”

Ryu Jaehee playfully winked. I couldn’t particularly deny those words. While Gyeon Hajun’s tone ranked higher than Ryu Jaehee for me, it was true that Ryu Jaehee was superior in terms of vocal ability alone.

And since he wasn’t being serious but saying it jokingly, what could I say in response?

“Then what about Yehyeon hyung?”

“Yehyeon hyung’s handsome appearance is his greatest strength. He’s not just handsome, but extremely handsome, right? Even in this entertainment industry where standards have been raised across the board, he’s almost at the top level.”

That’s right. At one point, that face alone was enough to grab a failing idol group by the collar and drag them up to the second tier.

Though now my music contributes more, right?

“He knows his lacking areas well and makes quite an effort himself, he’s persistent, sincere, smart, and much more skilled at seeing through people than I am.”

Oh yeah, seeing him chew cucumbers and lettuce in 【20,000 Won of Happiness】 was quite tenacious. And as for seeing through people, I had received quite a bit of help from Seo Yehyeon in that area, so I readily acknowledged it.

“But the clear existence of limits in his abilities is also his biggest flaw. While appearance is also a skill, as hyung said when recording before, music isn’t a synesthetic domain that encompasses both hearing and sight.”

Wait, wasn’t that synesthetic whatever thing something I said to Kim Dobin? I once again deeply realized that you shouldn’t even carelessly drink cold water in front of kids.

Now that I’ve done Seo Yehyeon too, what’s left is…

“Why are you looking at me like that…?”

“Huh? I’ve talked about all the members, so isn’t it finally my turn now?”

When I asked while staring at Ryu Jaehee with expectant eyes, Ryu Jaehee scratched his cheek, fell silent for a moment, then rattled off his words.

“Hyung is… inconsiderate of others, hates using his brain, speaks without filtering, old-fashioned, sometimes stupid, self-righteous, foul-mouthed, can’t cook, can’t say his vocal ability is good, writes weird greetings like ‘gichehuilhyangmangang’ on the fan cafe just to increase character count, becomes eccentric or vulnerable to stress when it comes to music, and quite often lives thoughtlessly doing whatever he feels like.”

My mouth fell open at my flaws flowing endlessly from Ryu Jaehee’s mouth. What kind of flaws are these numerous? When was I ever like this? And where did you throw away all my good points?

My flaws alone seemed more numerous than the combined flaws of the other three members.

“What about my strengths?”

“But half of these are flaws that come from things you don’t need to fix or are in the process of fixing, and the other half are things hyung can overcome or turn around if you just put your mind to it. Unlike the other hyungs.”

“Okay, so what are my strengths?”

When I grabbed Ryu Jaehee’s shoulders and shook him frantically while asking, Ryu Jaehee made eye contact with me and answered cleanly.

“Everything about hyung except for the flaws I just listed.”

Thud, Ryu Jaehee removed my hands that were gripping his shoulders and said with a grin.

“That’s why I hoped hyung wouldn’t become perfect. So it wouldn’t be too hard for me to follow. I admired hyung but was also envious. Of those aspects.”

He was finally telling me the reason he lived as my copycat and the answer to the question I had earlier.

“I was always envious of Hajun hyung who handles all the guide recordings for hyung’s work. Voice tone is something you’re born with, an area I can’t change.”

That’s true though. But honestly, if you think about it, guide recording is also labor and vocal cord exploitation, so is there a need to be envious?

“Yehyeon hyung’s looks were honestly at a level I couldn’t even feel envious of, but we filmed our 【Ride or Die】 music video and did street busking, right? I was a bit envious then. I also started doubting my own skills…”

God should be fair too, man. If you had your skills plus Seo Yehyeon’s face, it would destroy the idol industry ecosystem.

“Actually, I didn’t want to grow taller and I didn’t want to lose my baby fat either. I know well that my personality isn’t very youngest-member-like, so I wanted to keep living with at least an appearance that suited the youngest member… but in the end, Doby hyung took that title away.”

Well yeah, you went from hamster to nutria, so you’d hate that too. I understand that feeling well.

“I hate… falling behind and chasing after others while only seeing their backs.”

The slight inferiority complex he had toward the members, the psychology of wanting recognition, the desire to contribute to the group.

Those emotions were deeply embedded in Ryu Jaehee’s lament-like words.

Intuiting that if Ryu Jaehee couldn’t overcome this himself, the improvement level between Ryu Jaehee and me would keep fluctuating, I got up from my chair and plopped down next to Ryu Jaehee.

“The reason I have Hajun do guide recordings is, yeah, honestly I can’t say voice tone doesn’t play any part at all, but the biggest reason is that I’m used to working with Hajun from before.”

I stretched out one arm to rest on the sofa behind Ryu Jaehee’s back while tapping the sofa armrest with my remaining hand.

“The busking… I also felt empty when I was rapping, but it was annoying how attention gathered once we sat Yehyeon hyung down. Still, your solo stage got the best reaction at the concert, right? Remember?”

Ryu Jaehee, with teary eyes and lips pressed tight, nodded faintly. I lowered my hand and lightly patted Ryu Jaehee’s back. Ryu Jaehee shed a few tears and twisted his body.

“Ow! Hyung, your hands are really rough!”

“And you’re still the youngest member now. When were height and face ever the criteria for being the youngest? The youngest in age is the youngest member, man.”

I’m also called the youngest in our crew, you know?

“And whining about wanting to catch up is exactly a youngest member’s virtue. What’s that thing these days… youngest on top? I heard that’s trending. Just don’t think about standing above my head too.”

“True youngest on top means reigning above all the hyungs though.”

Seeing him giggle as he replied, he seemed to be in the mood for jokes at least.

Damn, even after saying all this, the relationship improvement level won’t go up by 1% no matter what.

Sigh, well, we have some time left anyway.

I let out a deep sigh inwardly and got up from the sofa. I looked back at Ryu Jaehee who was also getting up and gestured with my hand.

“Since we’re already at the studio, why don’t you do a guide recording for this regular album’s title track candidate before you go.”

“Not Hajun hyung, but me…?”

Ryu Jaehee narrowed his eyes filled with disbelief and asked again with a voice laden with suspicion.

“You’re going to make me do it once and then release the demo song again with Hajun hyung’s version, right.”

“Bullshit, man. What do you take me for. This time we’re submitting the version you recorded for the blind vote.”

I grumbled toward Ryu Jaehee, who was widening his eyes in surprise.

“What, didn’t you say with your own mouth that your vocal ability is better than Hajun’s.”

When was it that you complained to me about being envious.

I handed the sheet music with lyrics to Ryu Jaehee, who was nodding rapidly, and added playfully.

“If the vote fails, it’s not my fault but yours, okay?”

“Don’t you trust the main vocal?”

Ryu Jaehee, who was scanning the sheet music, asked with a confident voice. His eyes sparkled as he looked at me. I chuckled and replied at the sight of Ryu Jaehee’s lively appearance that I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Of course I trust you.”

[You have achieved 100 relationship improvement with member ‘Ryu Jaehee’.]

[▶Relationship improvement with members

-Seo Yehyeon(100%)

-Gyeon Hajun(100%)

-Kim Dobin(100%)

-Ryu Jaehee(100%)]

Oh?

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