Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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107. What’s Going to Burst, Bursts (7)
Since there was absolutely nothing around the studio where filming was taking place, the three of them had to walk about twenty minutes to reach the area near the train station.
Mal-lang-gom’s determination to get coffee was so intense that Soda and Professor Task ultimately had no choice but to let the youngest pay for the drinks. Still, they felt awkward about getting a free meal from an eighteen-year-old, so both of them ordered the cheapest options—iced tea and iced Americano.
“What? Professor Task, you brought your camera?”
The moment they received their drinks and sat down, Professor Task pulled out a camera, lenses, memory cards, and other equipment from her bag. She nodded as she carefully laid out each piece of separated gear and began inspecting them.
“Yeah, I got a feeling. I’m telling you, our Ha-jin is definitely going to capture something legendary today.”
Ever since Miro Maze’s first profile photos dropped, Professor Task had been an all-in fan—a born-to-be camera enthusiast for Kang Ha-jin. Until now, with no official schedules to attend, she’d only indulged in her fandom from her room, but…
On a day like today when she’d won audience tickets and could finally see them in person, there was no reason not to bring her camera.
“I noticed earlier that it looks like the same security team that managed the audience for ‘Star Care 119’ last time. I saw that guy back then. They don’t do strict baggage checks, so we should be fine.”
After carefully wiping the lens and placing it in its case, Professor Task lightly manipulated the DSLR body and showed the LCD monitor to Mal-lang-gom and Soda.
“Look at this. I shot them on their way to work before you guys arrived.”
“Crazy. On their way to work? You actually saw them?”
“Yeah. They came super early, right? After seeing them on their way in and realizing there weren’t many people around yet, I just went back to the Dormitory to rest for a bit. Then I got a message that Bear had arrived, so I came back out.”
“You’re seriously amazing, unnie.”
“Why do I take a leave of absence and work two part-time jobs? Solely to indulge abundantly in the thrilling K-pop of incredibly gorgeous men and women.”
“Unnie, do you also follow female idols?”
“Yeah. But lately I don’t really have anyone I’m specifically into… I just go to off-events for whatever pretty unnies catch my eye at the moment.”
Soda marveled at Professor Task’s words, shaking her head in admiration at how impressive it all was.
She momentarily forgot that she herself had spent until 3 AM yesterday editing Lee Do-ha GIFs, and had knocked out the assignment due today in a thirty-minute rush on the way here.
“Wow, I always knew, but you really do take amazing shots….”
Soda and Mal-lang-gom flipped through the previews of the commute photos Professor Task had taken, marveling at each one.
The trainees, bare-faced and dressed in casual clothes, descended from cars looking disheveled as they entered the studio, captured in natural light with a fresh and pure aesthetic.
“I got some shots of Do-ha too. Want the data?”
“Nah, nah. I’m already drowning in the GIF community as it is…. Wait, or should I? Maybe I should just take it?”
“Here she goes, overthinking again.”
“Then just give me the data for now. I can always handle it personally later anyway. I’ll send it to you at the Dormitory later.”
“Ugh… thanks. I’ll give you the Ha-jin GIFs I made as a warm-up too. Let’s trade.”
“Unnie, what about Si-woo?”
“Oh. I didn’t get Si-woo. Looks like they came in separate cars. I’m not sure if he came early or late. Anyway, I didn’t see him. But I’ll get some shots of him during the stage performance later.”
She’d already done a headcount anyway, and from here on out it was just infinite waiting time.
The three of them began chatting in earnest.
“When should we grab lunch?”
“The audience taping is at four, so… if we eat too early, we’ll be hungry again, right? Should we just grab something quick here and go eat around one?”
“Sounds good, sounds good. Oh, so spill the tea. What were they like in person?”
“Man, they’re seriously insane. You guys are going to pass out today, for real.”
Professor Task grabbed her forehead as if still dizzy and chugged her iced Americano in big gulps, even crunching on ice cubes with genuine conviction. Then she scrolled through the camera gallery and showed them one of the commute photos.
“First of all, this one. Ha-jin and Do-ha’s outfits today on the way to work.”
“Insane, Lee Do-ha’s tracksuit is so good.”
“Wow. But his physique is seriously crazy. Like, I’d believe it if you told me Do-ha was an athlete.”
“Ha-jin though…. He’s surprisingly good at dressing. You know what I mean.”
“A guy in a light blue jacket and beige chinos clocking in at dawn? Absolutely charming. Completely charming.”
“They’re both kind of athletes, but Do-ha has so many practicals that he mostly wears training gear, while Ha-jin does stuff like professor tasks so he has a lot of places to be seen, so he dresses up a bit more in campus style.”
Though their individual biases differed, the trainees they’d collected in their mental baskets were all much the same. Sometimes they’d clash while discussing if they liked the same trainee but had different points of interest or character interpretations. But there was a reason the three of them could remain fan friends for so long. Remarkably, their tastes and favorite fan interests were quite similar.
“Oh, but I have something to tell you.”
Professor Task, who had been talking about Do-ha, Won-ho, and Si-woo for a while, interlaced her fingers with a serious expression as if about to make a major announcement.
“I’ve decided to support Lee Yu-gun.”
“Whoa, seriously?”
“Really? Unnie, but actually I too. I’ve been supporting him for quite a while now.”
“Even if he’s not my ultimate bias, if our Ha-jin debuts with him, I think I could look at him with loving eyes.”
Professor Task’s criteria for ‘adopting my kid’ was solely passion, boldness, and skill. That Professor Task was supporting Yoo Gun? The two of them stared at her in shock.
“Why, why? Something must have happened earlier.”
“Well… no, listen. You said the kids came in separate cars earlier, right?”
Professor Task began to spill the tea with a serious expression.
“Two cars came at first, you see? From the first car, Tae-hyun and Ha-ru and… who was it. Anyway, the youngest ones got out. But they were literally like kindergarteners and their teacher. Seo Tae-hyun was taking care of his younger siblings, lining them up as they went in, and it was so cute. No, that’s not it.”
“Tell me about Seo Tae-hyun later, later. So, so what?”
That was always how fan talk went. There was always so much to say. So without self-editing like this or steering the direction, the original point would end up running out of time before being said.
Professor Task, who had regained her focus, continued with the original story.
“Anyway, so the kids played with us for a bit, got letters and slogans and all that, right? Then the next car came, and the kids were in that one. Ha-jin and Do-ha, and like Eun-chan and Yoo Gun and…”
“Hey, sorry for interrupting, but doesn’t that sound like a car assignment failure? The first car probably arrived sprawled out and the second car probably arrived all crumpled.”
“Oh, so the second car was a bit bigger. No, just listen for a second, please.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll stay quiet.”
Soda nodded apologetically at Professor Task’s rebuke.
“But the first shock I got was that Yoo Gun and the kids seemed way closer than I expected. Especially with Won-ho—they had like real best friend vibes.”
“Really?”
“Right! That controversy was totally unfair, I’m telling you? It wasn’t even a bad edit.”
Mal-lang-gom, who hadn’t shown it even though the unnies didn’t seem to like Yoo Gun, but actually had him tucked away in her mental basket, was indignant. Mal-lang-gom had a track record of diligently uploading defense posts about him since the days of his attitude controversy.
“So the kids all go inside together, and we were all screaming and stuff, right? Then apparently one of us who’s a Yoo Gun fan was there. Someone shouted ‘Yoo Gun’s stage is always fun!’ right out loud.”
“Oh my god, what do I do. I feel like I’m going to cry.”
“But Yoo Gun was in front so he didn’t hear it, and Ha-jin was talking to the security guard about something so he was in the back and heard it.”
“That’s hilarious too. Kang Ha-jin really isn’t some country puppy, and now he’s even chatting with the set security guard.”
Despite being the latest trainee to join, Ha-jin showed himself to be close with almost all the other trainees on the broadcast, earning him the nickname ‘Captain Kang’ from the Destiny fans.
He had particularly good chemistry with the younger trainees in the maknae line, and every time Ha-jin appeared leaving Miro Maze, he’d have one of his younger siblings by his side. Whether he was holding onto them or they were throwing themselves at him to play around, the way he naturally played with the younger kids had many Destiny fans turning Ha-jin into a moe character as a friendly large puppy.
“Ha-jin looked at us for a while, then suddenly ran off really fast. What’s going on? Did he forget something? I thought, but then he came back with Yoo Gun a little later. …Oh, wait.”
“Crazy, what is it. Are you crying? Are you crying right now?”
“Unnie, are you crying?”
“Oh, I just thought about it and got choked up.”
Remembering that moment from earlier, Professor Task’s voice suddenly caught. With her face looking genuinely choked up, Soda and Mal-lang-gom were even more flustered.
“No, seriously, you’ll cry when you hear this too. So Yoo Gun came out and… he smiled so beautifully and said, ‘This is a stage you’ve all protected, so please enjoy it! I’m having fun these days.’ And then he and Ha-jin did a 90-degree bow and made eye contact with everyone one by one.”
“That’s insane.”
“What, so you already knew? You knew and said it anyway?”
“The atmosphere seemed that way. When we entered, the other kids also seemed to pay attention to Yoo Gun? I got that feeling too…. Anyway, I fell for Yoo Gun after seeing that. If he’d been depressed with his spirit completely crushed, I wouldn’t know, but it was a genuinely carefree smile that showed he didn’t care at all. When I put him next to Ha-jin, his visuals didn’t seem bad either.”
Professor Task’s eyes grew moist. There was no real need to hear anything more.
Her gaze was that of Psyche, who had lit a candle in the middle of the night to confirm her husband Eros’s face. It meant her eyes were full of love.
“Really? Ah, should I fall for Yoo Gun too….”
“Sister. You want to root for Yoo Gun together?”
“How did you even manage to ship both Si-woo and Yoo Gun after watching just two episodes? You’re really relentless too.”
“Visual chemistry and charisma? Sister, this is love commanded by instinct.”
Soda paused for a moment at what Professor Task and Mal-lang-gom were saying.
‘Of course, the controversy was unfounded, that’s true…. But still, Yoo Gun—he does seem to lack passion and can’t sing well, right? That’s a fact, isn’t it?’
Once Yoo Gun’s family circumstances were revealed, public opinion had flipped in an instant, and Soda herself did feel sorry for misunderstanding him. But did that mean he’d earned a free pass to be exempt from criticism just like that?
‘I’m not really sure about that…. Well, I don’t particularly plan to say anything.’
There was no need to debate Yoo Gun’s merits and faults in this atmosphere.
After all, the protective shield built from sympathy and compassion was fragile regardless of what she said, and how the public would remember him after that shield disappeared depended entirely on Yoo Gun himself.
In the end, time would tell.
‘Still, I hope Do-ha and Ha-jin aren’t on the same team as Yoo Gun for today’s stage.’
While Soda hoped Yoo Gun would convince the public with his own legitimate skills, she didn’t want her favorite performers’ stage to become that test. This was her first time seeing Do-ha and Ha-jin perform in person, and she didn’t want to be unable to focus entirely on the two of them.
‘Ugh, I can’t wait to see the kids!’
Soda bounced on her feet with anticipation and worry.

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