Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 109

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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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109. What’s Going to Burst, Will Burst (9)
【I’m Going to Say It!】
The Candy Crush Team had ambitiously selected this song—a seasonal track by a male idol released years ago, timed for Christmas.
The original concept centered on a high-teen nerd boy finally confessing his long-harbored crush, brimming with exhilaration and earnest emotion.
An addictive whistle loop, relentless and childish confessions, and choreography that teetered between endearing and cringeworthy—these were the hallmarks. But visually, they’d already passed the test with flying colors!
Ah! I can’t hold back anymore
Seo Tae-hyun’s steady opening verse launched the song in earnest. From his startled expression to the fidgeting gestures of uncertainty, sighs of admiration rippled through the audience.
Like it’s about to burst! (pop!)
Every morning greeting we share (hello?)
You complete my every day
The moment the word appeared in the lyrics, all the trainees bowed their heads toward Dan Ha-ru. He responded by sprinkling silver confetti from his hands and striking a pose with a wink.
‘The fluffy bunny’s flirting is delightful!’
What do I do? This is my first time!
Search ‘how to confess’
I learned love confessions from books
The choreography faithfully reflected the lyrics throughout.
Jae-young and Pa-rang began their rap sections, each presenting their own studied confession methods. From classics like sketchbook confessions and rings hidden in ice cream, to Japanese shoujo manga tactics like wall-pinning (which was hilarious coming from the genuinely Japanese Yuki), a diverse array of approaches unfolded.
But the real explosion came last. It was Seo Tae-hyun’s turn after listening to his younger members’ presentations.
Noona, want to come see some cats?
Seo Tae-hyun, sporting black cat ear headband—who knew when he’d prepared it—tilted his head with a mischievous expression, and another roar erupted from the crowd. The contrast between his nervous trembling during the opening verse and this moment was absolutely captivating.
“Why hasn’t he debuted yet!?”
“I have no idea!!!!”
Mal-lang-gom and Soda wailed, recalling the eternal mystery that even Kang Ha-jin and Ha-ru pondered dozens of times a day. As they shook their Cherry Graphic slogan banners they’d received before entering and shouted, the song transitioned into the chorus.
Dan Ha-ru, holding a burgundy beret in one hand, grabbed the handheld microphone and bounded toward center stage. His white hands, sleeves so long they nearly covered his knuckles, gripped the white microphone that matched him perfectly—the perfect touch.
Can’t wait!
I’m going to say it, all of it!
I’m going to tell you everything, all of it!
You’re beautiful (beautiful!)
I like you (I like you!)
With just your existence, I can breathe
“Wow… I’m mesmerized.”
With Dan Ha-ru’s clear, pristine voice, the group choreography began. Though not overly difficult, the relentless stepping kept the song’s energy alive.
Say yes?
It doesn’t have to be yes
I just want to tell you how I feel
I only see you (see you!)
You’re all I see (everything!)
Your smile changes my entire world
Ah! I want to say it, my shy confession
“Hey, these kids are really nailing the live vocals.”
“So, what’s your vocal range?”
“Hey, it’s Miro. We’re juniors under Upia and Endway—if we can’t pull off a live performance, we might as well die of embarrassment.”
With Dan Ha-ru and Seo Tae-hyun leading the chorus, the other trainees all joined in with spirited voices when their parts came.
That energy of shouting together—”Nice! Show us!”—was palpable and alive.
‘What is this…? It’s so adorable.’
Even Soda, with hip-hop blood running deep through her veins, found herself swaying naturally to the rhythm on this joyful stage.
As they moved into the second verse, the boys’ earnest confession confession extravaganza unfolded like a musical. By then, I’d built up some immunity, allowing me to watch the stage with slightly tempered excitement.
Of course, my cheeks remained stretched so high that my jaw was beginning to ache.
I can’t wait no more!
As the song neared its end, pink confetti burst onto the stage with a pop.
Accompanied by Dan Ha-ru’s high-note ad-lib, the trainees took turns showcasing their individual charms—pulling out hand-cut hearts from inside their jackets and unfolding them, or dancing along to the trending challenges of the moment.
Seo Tae-hyun performed the choreography from Boy’s Supremacy’s title track that had made him a “cherry boy,” and the way he laughed sheepishly after finishing was somehow even more captivating.
Running toward you
I can’t wait no more.
The song ended with Seo Tae-hyun’s sweet vocal tone. As they gathered in the center, each forming different heart shapes, a piece of confetti stuck to Ha-ru’s cheek. Professor Task didn’t miss the moment, capturing the beaming Dan Ha-ru on camera.
“Wow, that was insane….”
“Unnie, Dan Ha-ru! Dan Ha-ru!!!”
“Got it, got it. Calm down.”
Mal-lang-gom, whose eyes had already turned into hearts, clamped her mouth shut, flushed with excitement. Professor Task soothed her with understanding, handing over a water bottle—a deep message to drink cold water and get her mind back on track.
As the trainees, breathing heavily, slowly got up and prepared their formation for interviews, the heat from the audience seating showed no signs of cooling. Groans of admiration erupted from all corners. At this point, Soda was beginning to feel slightly worried.
“Hey, what about the next team coming out?”
“No, how are they supposed to top this? With what? Are we not pressing the button for this stage? That would be an insult to K-pop.”
“To flip this mood around, the only answer is for Weekplays to show off their abs. But Lee Do-ha would never do something like that.”
“Of course not. Our Do-ha does real hip-hop. He wouldn’t do K-pop so cheaply.”
Of course, whether it was abs or back muscles, if they were shown, she’d scream her lungs out without hesitation.
“Wow, but Seo Tae-hyun is seriously insane. I feel like I’ve said the word ‘insane’ five hundred times already.”
“The fact that Seo Tae-hyun is just Seo Tae-hyun is a systemic evil. How is it possible that such a great group name hasn’t been attached to that name?”
“Yum-Mantic does idol work too….”
“Ugh, damn it. Please avoid mentioning that name.”
Yum-Mantic was Soda’s older brother, who had simultaneously become a father and a married man. Since his surname was Yum, they shortened “Yum’s romantic” to Yum-Mantic.
As Soda looked at Professor Task with a coldly composed expression, Professor Task laughed and promised to get some great shots when Lee Do-ha came out later.
In the meantime, the stage setup was complete, and the Candy Crush Team and Seo Tae-il took center stage again.
“The energy is really incredible. Let’s give a greeting to our Destiny fans.”
“Yes! Two, three!”
“Hello! We’re Candy Crush, here to satisfy your sweet cravings!”
With the chant, the trainees lightly bit the tip of their index fingers and winked—it looked like they were creating a pose of holding lollipops in their mouths.
“Wow, did you see Seo Tae-hyun deliberately nod his head one more time?”
“What can I do? Jae-young is too cute. I feel like my taste is being completely remodeled.”
Whether people whispered or not, the talk continued on stage. The trainees each gave individual greetings, and Seo Tae-hyun, as the leader, explained the stage and song selection.
Being so young, they didn’t stop moving for a second even while Tae-hyun was doing the interview with Tae-il—they really looked like little chicks.
Soda held up her phone with the LED display app open, showing the message 【☆My day is complete with you☆】. It wasn’t that she was particularly trying to cheer Ha-ru on; she was simply cycling through appropriate fan messages for each trainee who had come up to perform, as a matter of courtesy.
‘…What? Did he just see me?’
But then Ha-ru on stage locked eyes with her. Or at least, it seemed like he did. She was uncertain, but as if to confirm it, Dan Ha-ru smiled softly and mouthed “Me too,” giving a small wave.
“Wow, I just saw Helios.”
“What’s that?”
“The sun god from Greek mythology.”
“Isn’t that Apollo?”
“That’s the common understanding, but technically speaking, Apollo is more like the second generation who inherited Helios’s position, and historically Helios is the more original sun god….”
“No, stop. I was wrong.”
“Why doesn’t that noona ever check out Rene Entertainment?”
“She says they use a knockoff deity concept, so she dislikes them.”
“Ah.”
While they chatted casually, the Candy Crush Team’s basic interview came to an end. In a typical survival program, this would be the timing to prepare for the next team’s stage.
But Seo Tae-il didn’t let the Candy Crush Team leave so easily.
“Well, everyone. When we opened up audience recruitment for this event, we asked you all to write down questions about which trainees you wanted to support, or what you’d like to see them do. Do you remember?”
“Yes~!”
“Since we’ve gotten to meet the Destiny fans like this today, we thought we’d have the trainees themselves pick a few of the things you wrote down right here.”
Then staff members in black clothing came onto the stage carrying a box with the trainees’ names and photos attached to it.
So they weren’t just showing the stage? Though she’d praised it as an angelic survival program, this was still a first, so confused reactions echoed from the audience seating. Professor Task, who had been checking photos of the stage, nodded as if understanding.
“Ah, right. There are only three teams, but the recording time was way too long.”
“Yeah, even with 30 minutes per team, 1 hour 30 minutes wraps it up.”
“We’re totally winning here, honestly.”
While they murmured among themselves, Seo Tae-hyun carefully drew a slip of paper. The first question was this:
【Q. Tae-hyun! I’m curious how you and Master Mentor Tae-il address each other! Is it still awkward when you meet these days?】
As Seo Tae-hyun read the question in an awkward voice, laughter burst from the audience. It seemed like the question had been written because in the previous interview, Tae-hyun had answered that since he had higher seniority than Tae-il, things were still awkward.
Tae-hyun glanced nervously at Tae-il’s expression and fidgeted, trying to answer as respectfully as possible.
“Well, actually we’re very distant relatives, so… Master doesn’t call me uncle or anything like that! It’s just, uh, when we first found out about each other, it was a bit… awkward….”
“Ah, so when I first found out you were my nephew, I felt uncomfortable having to call my nephew a senior?”
“Huh? No! That’s absolutely not it!”
“So I should have naturally called you uncle, but I was being too insensitive?”
“Really, senior, why are you doing this to me….”
The sight of Seo Tae-hyun breaking into a cold sweat in front of his senior was quite a rare scene, so his teammates giggled with laughter.
Similar question times for other trainees followed. Since there were many younger members among the trainees, most of the questions and requests were things like aegyo, challenges, and cute poses.
Finally, Ha-ru drew a slip of paper.
【Q. Ha-ru, our audience seating’s Ha-ru! Among the trainee hyungs, which hyung does Ha-ru like the most? What’s the best thing about that hyung?】
The moment the question came out, the audience seating already seemed to know the answer, with screams of someone’s name heard from various places.
“Kang Ha-jin!!!”
“Ha-jin~.”
Even Soda, who despised individual mentions, nodded as if to say it had to be Kang Ha-jin. Dan Ha-ru was one of the main culprits who had made the Destiny fans moe-ify Kang Ha-jin as a “giant puppy.”
“Um. Actually, there are so many hyungs I like!!”
“Got it~!”
“But if I had to pick my favorite hyung today, I’d choose Yoo Gun hyung!”
Out of nowhere?
Even the Destiny fans who would’ve expected Ha-jin to say at most Eun-chan or Tae-hyun froze in shock, forgetting how to react.
Did Dan Ha-ru have a connection with Lee Yu-gun?
They were in the same Class A, but there was never a scene linking them together.
Was he just mentioning it deliberately to address the recent controversy?
Or was there some hidden relationship we didn’t know about?
While the fans’ minds spun faster than the Earth’s rotation, Dan Ha-ru dropped a bombshell with a radiant smile.
“Yoo Gun hyung’s collar today is so sexy, mmph!”
“Hahaha! Ha-ru, you like hyung the best, right? Say you like hyung.”
Quick-witted Seo Tae-hyun rushed over like a wasp and clamped his hand over Dan Ha-ru’s mouth, but the Destiny fans had already heard it.
‘His collar is sexy?’
Soda quietly tore at her hair.
And she thought to herself.
‘Something big is coming, damn it….’

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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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