A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 574

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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 574

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The promised meeting took place not in my personal studio but in the studio at the agency.

The current distance between Lee Haewon and me wasn’t quite at the level where I could freely bring him into my personal studio like before the regression.

Lee Haewon, who had arrived first, bowed as he saw me opening the door and entering, then bowed repeatedly when he spotted Kim Dobin suddenly poking his head out from behind me.

“Senior, hello.”

Even seeing the culprit who had suddenly dumped an enormous amount of homework on him, Lee Haewon didn’t send any resentful glances toward Kim Dobin.

Of course not. He doesn’t know who the culprit is. I’m just the one who became the evil senior. I really go through a lot protecting Kim Dobin’s image.

Still, with a bit of conscience, I gave Lee Haewon songs with sheet music as homework. Telling him to copy from the sheet music if it gets too hard.

But not knowing my generous heart, Kim Dobin was painting me as someone who torments junior trainees.

“Hyung, just how intense was the composition game you played with this kid that he’s so intimidated? That’s exactly the expression Yehyeon Hyung had right before getting dragged to the recording studio.”

I wondered why this kid reminded me of Seo Yehyeon even though their faces don’t resemble each other at all, but their expressions were identical.

Oh?

“Composition game…?”

Lee Haewon asked cautiously with a confused expression. Kim Dobin’s eyes widened.

“You don’t know about the fun composition game with Eden Hyung? Then what exactly are you doing with this kid, hyung?”

“Composition study, composition study group, composition tutoring, dude!”

If you use words that only work between you and me, how would he understand? I corrected the terminology, but Kim Dobin seemed to interpret it differently again.

“So I wasn’t your disciple but just a mere plaything?”

“What are you saying, dude! Don’t say things that others might misunderstand! How could you be a mere plaything when you didn’t even give me any joy? At least playthings provide some entertainment!”

As I furiously scolded Kim Dobin with my face turning red with anger, Lee Haewon stiffened even more.

But he was only watching us nervously for a moment.

Kim Dobin started engaging Lee Haewon in friendly conversation. Of course, it wasn’t to lighten the mood, but rather scheming to draw out the answer he wanted.

“I’ll definitely cover for you from Eden Hyung’s clutches, so please answer honestly. This is a question my future depends on. So you have to answer very honestly.”

“Yes…? Is it okay for me to answer such an important question…?”

“Do you think this method of just listening to music and writing sheet music helps improve composition skills?”

“Yes, it definitely helps. My pitch recognition improved, and I kept learning about chord progressions, rhythm patterns, and styles. The sense of immediately transcribing melodies to sheet music or arranging them also improved through transcription.”

“I thought that was my specialty, but it turns out it was Eden Hyung’s. So Eden Hyung and I are the same species. He’s from a different world than me.”

Kim Dobin lamented with a dejected expression after his scheme failed.

“See, Doby. Would I give you useless tasks? Haewon, wasn’t the homework difficult for you?”

“As I kept doing it, I got used to it and got the hang of it. Actually, I picked up speed and finished faster than expected.”

It was hastily assigned homework, but I’m glad it helped. I hope this will also improve Kim Dobin’s composition skills enough to reach a level where I can use him as my spare.

At Kim Dobin’s demand to hear some work as LnL’s pushed post-Yoon Eden, Lee Haewon played a music file with an embarrassed expression.

“Wow, talented people really are different. Even if Eden Hyung grilled me for years, I couldn’t make something like this.”

“I also made this while receiving tons of feedback from Eden Senior. It’s not entirely my own skill.”

Chatting away with Kim Dobin, Lee Haewon gradually seemed to relax. He talked much more than when he was with me.

Seeing him relax this much, having Kim Dobin here definitely seems to help.

Why though? Is it because Kim Dobin looks relatively approachable?

* * *

After the three-way meeting led by Kim Dobin ended, in the car on the way to the dormitory.

Kim Dobin scratched the back of his head and spoke first.

“You know that kid, hyung’s true disciple unlike me who’s just a plaything? He seems like, how should I put it? The type who’d get scammed easily.”

“Are you one to talk?”

No matter how I think about it, those weren’t words Kim Dobin should say, considering he was selected as Rev’s member most likely to get scammed.

“I don’t disarm myself that easily just because someone lightens the mood. You saw how long it took for me to open up to you, hyung.”

“Did it?”

From my perspective, Kim Dobin seemed to open his heart quite quickly, so it’s unfortunate that he thinks it took a long time.

But even I think today’s Lee Haewon was different from usual when Kim Dobin wasn’t around. He definitely seemed like the Lee Haewon I saw before, that is, before the regression.

“I wasn’t sure. Today was the first time I saw him like that in front of me.”

“Hyung, you didn’t… just because he’s a junior, you didn’t grill him like you did me and Yehyeon Hyung in the recording studio, right?”

“Not really.”

You guys needed to be grilled hard because you had to complete my music. What reason would I have to grill someone so hard when they’re completing their own musical world?

I was just less warm to Lee Haewon because of my intuition telling me there’s something connected to him.

“Be nice to him, hyung. You’ve taught him all that, but what if he runs to another agency because he’s scared of you? That would be like cooking porridge for the dog.”

“My goodness, Doby, you know that saying too?”

“I studied sayings because there are many saying games on Truth Talk Battle. But you were about to ask why I don’t study composition, right?”

Kim Dobin recited exactly what I was about to say, as if reading my mind.

“Wow, you-“

“You were going to ask why I became so perceptive, right? That’s because even a dog at a village school can recite poetry after three years.”

Am I easy to read, or has Kim Dobin really become more perceptive?

“But hyung, are you under some curse where your sentences have to end with ‘nya’?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Come to think of it, I think there was such a penalty once before… Whether I was lost in recollection while waiting for the signal or not, Kim Dobin kept chattering non-stop beside me.

“But he’ll definitely debut with LnL, right? It would be funny if he debuted elsewhere and used hyung’s name after you personally taught him.”

My fingers that were tapping the edge of the steering wheel paused.

‘Wait, debut?’

Before the regression, in the year Rev celebrated their 7th anniversary, LnL was busy forming a new boy group debut team in preparation for us not renewing our contracts.

Now LnL has realized the importance of composer-producer members because of me, but would the pre-regression LnL, which didn’t value composer-producer members, have put Lee Haewon in the debut team when his other abilities were ambiguous except for composition?

If Lee Haewon, who was young but a long-term trainee, didn’t make it into the debut team? Would Lee Haewon really want to stay at LnL even after a failed debut?

Of course, at major agencies like TK or Shin-wol, you’d need 6-7 years to be considered a long-term trainee, but honestly, at pre-regression LnL, even 3 years was plenty long-term.

So… if Lee Haewon, who didn’t make it into LnL’s debut team, moved his agency to Shin-wol.

Shin-wol, which uses trainees not just for debut but also exploits them as ghost composers, would have no reason not to accept Lee Haewon who has solid composition skills even if his other abilities are lacking.

Since they never intended to debut him anyway.

Then it somewhat explains why the connection to the Shin-wol trainee’s suicide reached me, whether it was Lee Haewon himself or a third party connected to Lee Haewon.

Of course, this is all just speculation. Lee Haewon might not have gone to Shin-wol, or he might have given up the idol path entirely and switched to being a composer.

Until I see the 28-year-old memory fragment, I can’t be certain, so I can’t make a deal with Cha Yeonho based on this speculation alone.

I need to probe Cha Yeonho more about the Shin-wol trainee system. Though it’s questionable whether Cha Yeonho would willingly reveal his agency’s dirty laundry.

Still, I think he might talk if I threaten him appropriately, saying it’s about saving KJ so he should cooperate. KJ clearly seems much more important to him than his agency.

Well, if someone asked me to save LnL or save Gyeon Hajun, I’d naturally choose to save Gyeon Hajun.

Looking at it this way, there’s quite a high probability that I’ve been thinking about the wrong approach to opening the 28-year-old memory fragment.

The key might not be ‘composition help’ but the ‘friendship’ of confiding worries and maintaining contact even after changing agencies.

But the problem is, due to my inexplicable uneasiness that made me keep a strange distance, the current relationship between Lee Haewon and me is significantly more awkward compared to before the regression.

It’s not too late to build intimacy with Lee Haewon like before, right…?

Come to think of it, if Kim Dobin hadn’t stubbornly insisted on today’s three-way meeting, I would have completely missed the chance to open the memory fragment.

“Doby, you really are a lucky charm.”

I reached out with my right hand to lightly ruffle Kim Dobin’s hair as he sat in the passenger seat, and Kim Dobin squinted his eyes.

“I don’t know what kind of leap led you to call me a lucky charm, but if you’re that grateful, how about reducing the homework you gave me by a third?”

All I could do for Kim Dobin, whom I was truly grateful to, was swallow the cruel truth that about twenty more songs were waiting for him.

“Come to think of it, isn’t today DTB’s broadcast day? Are you going to write another explanation live stream script while watching the broadcast today, hyung?”

I shrugged at Kim Dobin’s question. Well, depends on Daydream’s reaction.

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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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