A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 56

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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 Initial Intentions Episode 56

“No, if you put the strawberries upright like that, it’ll tear the sheet cake.”

“You can just cut them in half and lay them down.”

“Oh, that’s one way to do it.”

“Sigh, let’s just switch. That would be better. You whip the whipped cream. I’ll cut the strawberries.”

I snatched the knife from Ryu Jaehee’s hand and pushed aside the strawberries he had chopped up.

Ryu Jaehee received the spare whipped cream bowl and seriously started whisking with the whisk.

Watching him repeatedly stir three times, stop, and lift it up to see what peaks were forming made me regret switching roles.

I cut the strawberries in half, leaving only five strawberries for decoration on top.

Ryu Jaehee lifted the whisk covered in whipped cream, turned to me, and suggested.

“You know how in baking scenes they playfully smear stuff on each other’s faces? Should we try that kind of scene too?”

“Isn’t that too unsanitary? Using something that touched your face to whisk again?”

At my disgusted reaction, Ryu Jaehee obediently put down the whisk and started spreading the adequately whipped cream on the sheet cake.

After cutting all the strawberries, I stared seriously at the mashed strawberries thickly stuck to the cutting board and muttered.

“If we mix this into the whipped cream, wouldn’t it become strawberry cream?”

“Oh, a true strawberry cream cake.”

“It’s too wasteful to throw away, so let’s add it.”

“If it gets ruined or tastes bad, it’s all hyung’s responsibility… Just kidding. I’m also at fault for not stopping hyung.”

“Ah, then should we not add it?”

“No going back on your word!”

I shook my head watching Ryu Jaehee quickly add the mashed strawberries to the bowl of whipped cream and whisk it without giving me a chance to stop him.

Even if the cake gets ruined, it’s not my fault. It’s Ryu Jaehee’s fault for insisting on putting the mashed strawberries into the whipped cream.

I only thought about it. Just thought.

Our work was finally done after struggling to write “Merry Christmas” on top of the cake with a piping bag filled with chocolate.

The salad and canapés had been completed long ago, and the already finished roasted turkey went without saying.

When we placed the roughly completed cake on the table with the tablecloth laid crookedly, Seo Yehyeon looked at the cake and said reluctantly.

“The cake… is this right…?”

“Hyung, you weren’t going to eat it anyway since it’s milk fat from whipped cream.”

Since we were in front of the camera, I kept a smile on my face. Kim Dobin added a few words too.

“Why did the cake turn into a devil fruit? Was there any reason you had to add the chopped strawberries like this?”

After confirming the camera got a full shot of the table, I picked up the cake knife.

I roughly cut the cake into five pieces, placed one on each plate, and offered a piece of cake to Kim Dobin sitting next to me.

“Here, Doby. Let’s eat and then talk. Ah-“

“Why, why are you doing this…?”

Kim Dobin was trembling, but when I twitched my brow to signal that we were in front of cameras so he should be considerate and eat quickly, he obediently opened his mouth.

Kim Dobin, who had been chewing the cake with a deathly expression as if I’d given him poison, gradually widened his eyes.

Seo Yehyeon, who was eating the cake, said with a face that really didn’t want to admit it.

“What is this. It’s surprisingly delicious.”

“It’s because they’re store-bought. It’s not made by Yoon Eden & Ryu Jaehee, it’s made by the mart.”

“Right. We just stacked and spread things. We just ruined the visual a bit by adding chopped strawberries to the whipped cream.”

“Yeah, why did you do that, youngest?”

“Wasn’t hyung the one who first suggested the idea?”

“Who was it that put the chopped strawberries in the whipped cream?”

After finishing our meal with a thoroughly harmonious atmosphere, five sets of animal pajamas were placed in front of us.

Ryu Jaehee smiled confidently and spoke while looking over the animal pajamas.

“For things like this, you should definitely wear something that matches your image. Hmm, there’s no hamster…”

“Hey hey, there’s a flying squirrel instead of a hamster.”

“Then pass the flying squirrel this way! Hyung can wear the dog ones.”

Ryu Jaehee handed the dog pajamas to Kim Dobin. Now I stared intently at the black cat pajamas among the three remaining sets.

That reply asking if I’d never seen a kitten being born suddenly came to mind.

Should I really wear cat pajamas after hearing something like that?

As I stared blankly at the three remaining animal pajamas with hollow eyes, the system immediately intervened.

[Dead fish eyes detected.]

[Initial Intentions –1]

“Eden hyung gets the cat.”

With eyes that had become dead fish eyes from the pain, I obediently accepted the cat pajamas Ryu Jaehee handed me.

Since the other pajamas weren’t great either, this choice was still the best option.

“Hajun, what do you want to wear?”

“Hyung, you choose first. I’ll wear whatever’s left.”

Gyeon Hajun passed the choice to Seo Yehyeon.

“Hmm… rabbit or Bambi…”

“It’ll be dawn at this rate. Just wear anything.”

At my indifferent advice, Seo Yehyeon finally picked up the Bambi pajamas at his feet. Thanks to that, Gyeon Hajun automatically got the rabbit.

Wearing animal pajamas over our shirts and pants that had no ventilation and made the already warm studio even more stuffy, we gathered in front of the large Christmas tree.

“Oh, come to think of it, this is my first time decorating a Christmas tree.”

At Seo Yehyeon’s admiration, Ryu Jaehee, who was hanging decorations on the tree, widened his eyes and turned to Seo Yehyeon to ask.

“Really? You never did it when you were little?”

“Our family didn’t celebrate Christmas at all.”

“Why? Is your family Buddhist?”

“No, non-religious.”

Seo Yehyeon giggled as he hung a bell ornament on the tree, saying he learned at age five that Santa doesn’t exist thanks to his parents’ early education.

Is that why he became such a bleak person who wants money envelopes as gifts?

I thought this while casually hanging ball ornaments on branches. Occasionally turning to the camera and waving with a smiling face was a bonus.

And then came the long-awaited gift exchange time.

All five of us lay side by side on the fluffy blanket spread on the studio floor.

“I’m getting a bit sleepy lying down.”

“Eden hyung, you’re not really going to sleep, right?”

“Uh-huh…”

I barely managed to hold onto my drowsy consciousness and replied.

We just had to quietly place the gift boxes we each prepared under the Christmas tree we decorated next to the head of whoever we drew in the lottery, then return to the blanket and lie down.

This was the easiest of all the filming we’d done so far.

I was the first one up.

I tiptoed quietly, picked up the gift box I prepared, gently placed it by Seo Yehyeon’s head, and returned to my spot to lie down.

As I kept reminding myself we were filming and held onto my increasingly drowsy consciousness, I felt someone’s presence by my head.

Judging by the bustling footsteps, it was either Ryu Jaehee or Kim Dobin.

We proceeded with the gift box opening ceremony that wouldn’t be in the music video but would appear in the reality show.

Seo Yehyeon was the first to open his gift box.

Seo Yehyeon picked up the single Christmas card placed on top of the gift and read the written text.

“TO. Seo Yehyeon FROM. Yoon Eden. Merry Christmas. Whoa, it was you?”

I nodded toward Seo Yehyeon who turned to me with surprised eyes, then said to the camera.

“Actually, I was going to give Yehyeon hyung a money envelope tailored to his taste, but I decided a heartfelt gift would be better and carefully selected this.”

If 10 minutes of consideration counts as careful selection, then it was careful selection.

At the youngest line’s urging, Seo Yehyeon took the gift out of the gift box.

A men’s cashmere muffler and homme skincare set.

“Oh, unexpected.”

Was this an unconscious mutter, or a mutter meant to tease me?

“I don’t know how you managed to give me exactly what I needed.”

Perhaps it was an exclamation that came out without him realizing, as Seo Yehyeon quietly added the sentence like he was talking to himself to cover it up.

I wonder if he thought I had put some trash in there or something.

“No matter how I look at it, this isn’t a gift you can buy for 50,000 won. Hyung, how much did it cost?”

“No comment. It’s not polite to mention the price in front of the recipient when giving a gift.”

I lightly scolded Ryu Jaehee while gently ruffling his head covered by the animal pajama hood.

Next, Ryu Jaehee opened his gift box.

“The sender is… Hajun hyung.”

The gift Gyeon Hajun prepared for Ryu Jaehee was wired earphones and a music box.

Taking a quick look at the earphones, they were from a brand famous for good sound quality. From what I know, they must have cost quite a bit.

Come to think of it, one of the things that made me realize I had returned to the past was wired earphones.

Since I had gotten used to wireless earphones in the future, it felt awkward again to see earphones with wires.

The other item was also a perfect gift for Ryu Jaehee, who had a hobby of collecting music boxes.

There was a whole episode of Ryu Jaehee being deeply moved and hugging Gyeon Hajun tightly, but let’s skip over that.

Next, Kim Dobin grabbed the lid of his gift box and solemnly muttered.

“Will there really be a money envelope inside as I wished?”

Kim Dobin opened the box while providing his own BGM with his mouth, then picked up a piece of paper that could have been either a Christmas card or a business card and read the writing.

“Merry Christmas, Yehyeon hyung.”

Kim Dobin carefully put down the Christmas card and took out a brand card wallet from the gift box.

“Open the wallet.”

At Seo Yehyeon’s words, Kim Dobin slightly opened the wallet and was so moved by the two Shin Saimdang bills tucked inside that he covered his mouth.

Somehow he seemed to like them even more than the card wallet.

“Oh, that’s thoughtful.”

“Right. When giving a wallet as a gift, it’s standard to put money in it too.”

Seo Yehyeon’s shoulders subtly moved up and down, pretending not to notice the praise coming from both sides.

I watched Kim Dobin bow deeply to Seo Yehyeon, perhaps mistaking the Christmas gift for New Year’s money because he received cash.

A deep bow on Christmas. What kind of East-West hybrid is this?

Next in line, Gyeon Hajun opened his gift box and revealed the gift and sender.

“It’s from Doby. Doby, can I read the letter? You wrote it really long.”

“Ah, no. I’d be grateful if you just read it by yourself, hyung.”

Kim Dobin waved his hands frantically in horror. The gifts were a tumbler and a mood light.

They were items that could be reasonably bought within the 50,000 won budget.

“Thanks, I actually needed a new tumbler.”

There was no way Gyeon Hajun, who gets silently annoyed even when someone just turns on their phone screen next to him while sleeping, would welcome the mood light.

Look at him only thanking for the tumbler and not even mentioning the mood light. His likes and dislikes were definitely clear.

Then the sender of my gift must be Ryu Jaehee.

Recalling how Ryu Jaehee’s expression became increasingly restless as the three adults’ gifts were revealed, my already rock-bottom expectations completely hit zero.

What money would those minors have to buy good gifts? Like Kim Dobin, he probably prepared something within 50,000 won.

“Wow, how did everyone manage to avoid drawing themselves?”

“I swear on Yuje’s music box collection that there was absolutely no manipulation, viewers.”

“Why are you betting my music box collection?”

Leaving the youngest line members who started bickering behind, I opened the gift box.

“Then lastly, I’ll reveal the gift I received.”

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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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