A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 516
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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 516
Even though I knew he was dead from what Cha Yeonho told me, it didn’t really hit me, but being confirmed like this finally made it feel real.
“No way…”
Gyeon Hajun muttered in a dazed voice.
As if possessed by something, Gyeon Hajun grabbed his phone and called my number from the unread text messages. Of course, there was no way I’d answer since I was dead.
If I answered now, it’d be a horror movie or something.
While thinking it served him right for ignoring my calls like that in the memory fragments I’d seen before, I also felt like I’d lost somehow since Gyeon Hajun had ignored them intentionally while I simply couldn’t answer.
Staggering as he got up, Gyeon Hajun grabbed any black clothes from the hangers and roughly threw on a coat, then picked up the car keys that were on the table.
Just as he was about to leave through the front door, feeling the vibration in his hand, Gyeon Hajun looked down at his phone screen with the faintest thread of hope.
But what appeared on the phone screen were the three characters spelling ‘Seo Yehyeon’.
The moment he saw it, the light in Gyeon Hajun’s eyes went out.
Watching that, I no longer felt satisfied. I just craved cigarettes like crazy.
I unconsciously made the motion of putting a cigarette in my mouth, then awkwardly brushed my lips with my fingers.
After answering the phone and carelessly throwing the car keys near the entrance, Gyeon Hajun left the house. A car was waiting right in front.
Kim Dobin was sitting in the driver’s seat.
I was about to click my tongue asking if that bastard Seo Yehyeon still hadn’t gotten his license, thinking he’d never get it if I didn’t push him, but then I remembered seeing it in the bug and quietly put my tongue back.
Right, he said he was a beginner driver then. At least he got his license.
“Doby suggested we pick you up first.”
“I was worried Hajun hyung might get in an accident if he drove in such a state.”
At Seo Yehyeon and Kim Dobin’s words, Gyeon Hajun tried to weakly lift the corners of his mouth to smile, but even that failed as he hung his head.
I also roughly squeezed in between Ryu Jaehee and Gyeon Hajun. It would’ve been better if this were 3D screen viewing, but it’s VR experience-type viewing.
Fortunately, no one spoke after that and they went quietly, so I didn’t feel particularly left out. Ryu Jaehee, despite his large build, kept dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief and sniffling.
Four people, but only one is crying. Okay, I’m remembering all this.
The car finally arrived at the funeral hall.
As soon as he got out of the car, Gyeon Hajun began walking quickly, as if he couldn’t even think about going with the other members.
When that quick walk was about to turn into running, the coat that had been precariously draped over Gyeon Hajun’s shoulders fell to the ground. That guy didn’t even notice and continued heading toward my funeral hall, looking only ahead without a coat on this cold day.
I tried to reach out to pick up the coat scattered in the hallway, but my hand passed right through it.
It was Kim Dobin who picked up that coat. With a face and atmosphere quite unfamiliar to me, Kim Dobin picked up Gyeon Hajun’s coat and pushed the back of Ryu Jaehee, who had stopped.
Seo Yehyeon was already calling Gyeon Hajun’s name and chasing after him. I also quickened my pace and overtook the two who had gone ahead.
The first thing I saw was my portrait photo. That’s my pre-regression portal site profile picture.
Thanks to that, this situation felt even more unreal. Isn’t this actually some kind of reenactment drama rather than a real funeral?
School friends gathered and shedding tears. The groups I produced. KICKS members including Kwon Yunseong and Choi Hyeonmin, and Parachute.
Why did he come? Isn’t he one of the guys who contributed greatly to making things this bad? Cha Yeonho? Why is that bastard there? Cha Yeonho, without a trace of sadness on his face, clearly didn’t look like he came to pay respects.
And…
“Our Overlevel crew hyungs really show loyalty to the end. What’s so precious about a bastard who cut ties so one-sidedly that they’d even come to his funeral.”
I scratched the back of my head for no reason while watching from a distance as Yongcheol hyung put down his soju glass and finally broke down crying, with the hyungs next to him patting his back with bitter expressions or constantly wiping the moisture from their eyes.
I couldn’t bear to keep watching the hyungs, so when I turned my head, this time I saw the family members in the chief mourner’s seats.
Meeting the tearful eyes of my great-grandfather glaring at my portrait photo as if something was so displeasing, and my father’s unfocused eyes that I was seeing for the first time, I realized I had committed an incomparably greater act of unfilial piety than my 80th birthday filial piety diss rap.
“Acute drug poisoning, they say. Who knows if he took the drugs to die or just died while taking them. He left without even a suicide note, driving only his family crazy…”
“Either way, it’s tragic at such a young age. Sigh, how will Eden’s mom live now after losing her only son. She fainted from crying and had to be taken away.”
Ah shit, using mom as a cheat key is cheating. I roughly ran my hand through my hair at the sounds coming from the reception room.
Once again, I thought I should live healthily for a long, long time.
And finally, when Gyeon Hajun arrived at the funeral hall, I checked the time.
Gyeon Hajun had no intention of entering the funeral hall. He just stood there in front of the funeral hall without even taking off his shoes, staring blankly at my portrait photo.
The shoes he’d put on all wrinkled, so unlike him, caught my eye belatedly.
And the phone he was gripping tightly like a lifeline until his fingertips turned white.
“That’s not right… You’re not the type to die like this, Yoon Eden…”
Completely garbled muttering flowed from Gyeon Hajun, who looked so pale he seemed about to collapse.
Sensing his condition wasn’t normal, I looked down with complex feelings at Gyeon Hajun, who finally sat down and was breathing heavily.
See, we never knew each other until the end, Jun. You were wrong until the very last moment.
You didn’t know I would die so meaninglessly like this, and I didn’t know you would collapse like this in front of my funeral hall, unable to even enter it.
Fuck, how is this a 1-minute run?
While Gyeon Hajun’s stay was exactly 1 minute, seeing it directly in front of me, I couldn’t even resent Gyeon Hajun.
Those damn reporters, what’s so newsworthy about someone dying that they keep taking pictures and making a fuss? The kid is hyperventilating.
I followed Gyeon Hajun as he barely managed to leave the funeral hall with Seo Yehyeon’s support. The youngest line passed by me and entered the funeral hall.
As soon as they stopped in the deserted hallway, Gyeon Hajun slowly sat down. Seo Yehyeon lowered his eyelashes and sighed deeply in lamentation.
“I should have pushed through and made an opportunity back then. When I just mentioned your name, Yoon Eden reacted so sharply…”
That time, when Seo Yehyeon brought the audition and started with Gyeon Hajun’s name.
Seo Yehyeon back then was probably trying to arrange a meeting between me and Gyeon Hajun. But I was completely pissed off at Gyeon Hajun at that time and had no intention of meeting.
“He wouldn’t have seen me.”
Gyeon Hajun, who had been staring blankly into space, murmured quietly.
“He said we’d never see each other’s faces for life. He’s the type who keeps his word once he says it, so he really wouldn’t have seen me.”
There wasn’t even a trace of regret in that hollow voice. It was the first time I’d heard a voice that contained nothing at all.
“But he didn’t need to keep it this way…”
Plop-
Belated tears flowed from Gyeon Hajun’s eyes.
Kim Dobin, who had finished paying respects, let out a short sigh and placed the coat he had brought over the shoulders of Gyeon Hajun, who was sobbing with his mouth covered.
Seo Yehyeon left Gyeon Hajun with the youngest line and headed back to the funeral hall.
I thought about going to receive Seo Yehyeon’s bow, but since I’m perfectly alive right now, receiving two bows felt ominous, so I just gave up and stayed next to Gyeon Hajun.
Can the current you hear that all this will become nothing and you and I will no longer break off our friendship due to arrogance and misunderstanding?
Even if it’s now erased time, weren’t you carrying this memory alone?
“I should have visited a little more, just a bit more often…! I should have thrown away the alcohol at hyung’s house, taken him to the hospital, if I had done that, huhuheung…”
In stark contrast to Ryu Jaehee crying as if he’d die next to him, Kim Dobin’s calmly settled face didn’t have a drop of moisture.
“What’s the point of regretting? It’s not like we can turn back time. And even if we went back, how much would that hyung change?”
At Kim Dobin’s cynical words, I opened my mouth wide and grabbed and shook Kim Dobin’s shoulders.
“Hey, Dobin! You weren’t this kind of guy! If it’s regression or whatever, you should be crying your eyes out saying things change dramatically!”
Of course, since I couldn’t exert physical force, Kim Dobin didn’t feel anything strange.
Kim Dobin not being like an otaku was shocking, but Kim Dobin not shedding a single tear at my funeral was quite shocking too.
Well, Kim Dobin back then didn’t have much bond with me anyway. At least he reconciled with Seo Yehyeon at the end, but neither Kim Dobin nor I back then were the type to extend a hand first.
“Still, I was curious about the 5-member Rev with that hyung’s songs. In the end…”
Kim Dobin smiled bitterly and trailed off.
Yes, I’m the sinner for leaving, I’m the sinner. But before hitting me, hit CEO Kim Nodam first. That side is the primary cause.
Seo Yehyeon returned after finishing paying respects.
“Let’s go.”
At Seo Yehyeon’s words, Gyeon Hajun, who barely managed to get up with Ryu Jaehee’s support, shook his head.
“Go to the car first. I’ll pay my respects and come.”
“Will you be okay?”
“…I want to face him one last time.”
After sending the members ahead, Gyeon Hajun hesitated while heading to the funeral hall.
“I told him never to see my face for life, but he might hate that I’m stubbornly showing up.”
“No, that’s not it, but you can just go if it’s hard, man. Facing your pale, sickly face that looks like it’d collapse with one touch is more of an ordeal.”
I, the person involved, gave him my honest feelings from the side, but there was no way Gyeon Hajun could hear it.
While Gyeon Hajun offered a white chrysanthemum with trembling hands, I looked around the funeral hall and reception room. Hmm, Cha Yeonho isn’t here. Did I see wrong?
Finally, after barely finishing paying respects, Gyeon Hajun left the funeral hall and walked toward the distant hallway with the emergency stairs. I also walked alongside Gyeon Hajun.
I was scratching my head at the feeling of walking down an endless hallway when Gyeon Hajun glanced back at me.
At that moment, I had the illusion that our eyes met. When I quietly moved behind Gyeon Hajun, he turned his head again to look back at me.
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
I definitely made eye contact with Gyeon Hajun.
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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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