Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 11

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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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11. The Trainee Who Refuses to Debut (2)
“What, you’ve already met and gotten introduced?”
Even beneath Han Sung-woo’s casual tone, his wariness cut through like a blade, and suddenly every other trainee’s gaze swiveled toward me and Sparkle. The atmosphere, which had been perfectly balanced, shifted into something strange in an instant, and Sparkle visibly flustered, shaking her head.
“No, it’s not like that….”
“We ran into each other in front of the restroom. We just happened to cross paths, and he was so handsome. I asked one of the staff members about him.”
“…Oh, I see.”
I smoothly cut off Han Sung-woo’s subtly barbed remark and deflected, and just like that, the atmosphere snapped back to normal. Sparkle, who had been flustered, laughed awkwardly and matched the mood. Everyone was laughing, yet somehow a thorny ball seemed to be rolling through the air.
“Right, so introductions are done. Should we take a break now? Everyone’s tired, right?”
Han Sung-woo, still wearing the face of a considerate squad leader, patted my shoulder and stood up. The practice room fell into disarray in an instant. With an awkward gap between us, only Sparkle and I remained seated. It was I who grabbed Sparkle as she tried to slip away and escape.
“That restroom… where was it again? We ran into each other earlier, but I can’t remember.”
A lie. There hadn’t been anything resembling a restroom near where we’d crossed paths.
“Oh, maybe it’s farther than you think…. Um, down the hallway, turn left when you exit….”
“Since it’s my first time here today, the layout’s confusing. Seems like a lot of people would get lost.”
I shrugged with a bewildered expression, and Sparkle’s eyes
rolled wide.
I repeated in an innocent voice: turn right when you exit? Sparkle’s lips trembled, and finally she took my bait.
“I-I’ll show you the way!”
“Wow, you don’t have to do that. Thanks though.”
The moment we stepped out of the practice room, I naturally turned left, and I caught Sparkle’s pupils quake once more—but I paid it no mind.
So, are you a bomb or a lifeline?
* * *
“Eun-chan.”
Ju Eun-chan caught sight of Ha-jin leaving the practice room with Dan Ha-ru through the mirror, and then heard the familiar voice calling him. Instead of answering, he hurriedly pretended to stretch, averting his gaze.
But when someone calls your name twice more with such familiarity—Eun-chan, Ju Eun-chan—you can’t keep pretending not to hear.
Ju Eun-chan rubbed his stiff neck and responded to whoever had called him.
“…Yes, hyung.”
“I said something earlier, and I was worried it might’ve bothered you. You know I didn’t mean anything bad, right?”
“Ah…. Yes.”
Han Sung-woo, who had stopped Ju Eun-chan, felt the gazes of several trainees turning toward them, so he deliberately made a bigger gesture, patting Eun-chan’s shoulder. His cheerful voice filled the practice room—saying things like, you’d do better if you came early, you’ve got long legs anyway!
“Everyone’s working hard, so we can’t let the atmosphere get disrupted because of you. I trust you understand what hyung means.”
“Yes, hyung. …I’m sorry.”
“No, just don’t do it next time. Keep practicing. Were you warming up? I’ll watch you.”
Even after the conversation ended, Han Sung-woo didn’t leave but positioned himself right in front of Ju Eun-chan, who let out a small sigh. His gaze kept drifting toward the practice room door where Dan Ha-ru and Ha-jin had exited.
“Eun-chan. You need to focus. What did I tell you about half-assing your warm-up? You can’t ignore the fundamentals like this.”
“…Yes, I’m sorry.”
I’m suffocating.
The words Ju Eun-chan swallowed silently.
* * *
Dan Ha-ru was somewhat tense. For one, he was naturally shy around strangers, and this new trainee who’d arrived today had an intimidating expression almost as fierce as Eun-chan’s, which made it worse.
Was it because the first meeting had been slightly uncomfortable? Feeling oddly uneasy, he’d followed along, but now he couldn’t possibly spill everything to someone he’d just met—it was terribly awkward.
“So your name is Dan Ha-ru? Where do you live?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m in Seoul….”
“Your home is in Seoul?”
“No, I live in the Dormitory….”
“Wow, really? You’re so young to be living away from home like that. That’s impressive. Where are you originally from?”
“My family home is in the Provinces, but my parents are overseas.”
“What? So you’re here in Korea all by yourself?”
“No, I’m with my grandmother….”
“Ah, I see.”
It felt awkward…
‘How did I end up reporting half my life story to this guy?’
He’d simply asked, and I’d simply answered. But when I came to my senses, I realized I’d already given a detailed account to this man I’d met for the first time today—the one I’d been so wary of—about being the youngest trainee, how training life wasn’t difficult, but sometimes I craved my grandmother’s braised short ribs from back home.
I’d thought he’d have a similar personality to Ju Eun-chan given his intimidating appearance, but Kang Ha-jin treated me with the ease of someone he’d known for ten years. His skill at keeping conversation flowing with questions was leagues better than any recreation instructor’s.
In that brief span of time between the Practice Room and the Restroom, I’d agreed to let him speak casually to me and to call him “hyung.” I’d even called him “Kang Ha-jin hyung” several times! Compared to how I’d referred to Ju Eun-chan—my Peer Soldier and someone just a year older—as “that guy” for a whole month, the speed of this shift was remarkable.
‘What… what incredible social skills.’
By this point, a thousand thoughts were racing through my mind. Truth be told, there was something stuck in my throat since I’d left the Practice Room. I was torn. Should I just be honest and ask him not to tell the other guys what he’d seen? But if he asked why, what would I say? Was it even okay to bring this up to someone I’d just met today?
And Kang Ha-jin, watching this internal struggle unfold in real time, thought to himself:
‘Goodness, what a transparent kid.’
His worries were written all over his face. If he debuted and went on variety shows later, he’d have a rough time of it. I’d even given him the perfect timing and opportunity to open up about whatever was bothering him, yet he still hesitated. Whether it was caution or something else, it didn’t matter—if he wasn’t going to speak first, I’d just take the initiative.
“It’s about what happened earlier, right?”
“Huh?”
“Or not? It seems like you don’t want the others to know about what we ran into earlier.”
I opened with the gentle, understanding hyung concept, smiling subtly as if to say “I already know everything,” and this honest, bright kid startled again.
Those unusually large eyes were filled with a million question marks and exclamation points asking “What kind of person is this guy?”—though honestly, it was all written across his face anyway.
“I don’t know the details, but I didn’t see anything that happened there earlier.”
“Ah, th-thank you.”
With a startled expression, he bowed his head, and it didn’t seem like he had anything more to say. Besides, I hadn’t planned to dig into everything on the first day anyway.
Today, laying some groundwork would be enough.
“Still, I’m glad. If you’d mentioned it thoughtlessly, things could’ve gotten awkward.”
“No, it’s not really serious or anything…. It’s just a bit embarrassing that I cried….”
“What’s wrong with crying? I cried all the time when I was at my previous company.”
“You were a trainee? At another company?”
“…Yeah, just for a bit.”
I shrugged and answered with a slight smile, and I could see the wariness in this bright kid’s expression gradually softening. Like rabbit ears perking back up after drooping, his posture slowly relaxed. Before heading back into the Practice Room, I delivered one final blow.
“If there’s ever something difficult you can’t talk about anywhere else, just ask me to go to the Vending Machine. I’ll buy you a drink.”
I said it lightly, in passing.
“I have a younger brother, you see. When I saw you earlier, I… it reminded me of him, and my heart felt a bit heavy.”
I’d just sold out my one-year-younger brother Kang Ha-won—who was probably gaming at home right now—with a single sentence, but since he’d never know, it was fine.
“Maybe I’m being nosy? It just seemed like there was something you found hard to talk about with the others inside.”
“…You,”
“Huh?”
“You really do seem like a proper adult, hyung.”
Well, of course. I’m living through twenty-nine plus change, after all.
I smiled without a shred of guilt at Sparkle, who gazed at me half-mesmerized, and patted his shoulder. If Ha-won had seen me like this, he would’ve shaken his head with a cold expression, but since he’ll never see it, there’s no harm done.
‘Go on, take the bait, little lamb.’
Whether it’s fish that bite bait or not hardly mattered to me.
* * *
Miro trainees received five types of classes: vocals, dance, rap, acting, and physical conditioning.
Each class was further divided by level, and mine were, in order: advanced, intermediate, advanced, beginner, intermediate. The acting class was beginner, apparently because of this mental care system.
‘While the care system is active, my emotional sensitivity seems to dull a bit.’
That’s going to be a problem. I’ll settle things with the system properly later.
[System Alert: W-what…?]
Anyway, I was in the middle of dance class right now. In my case, they said it was ambiguous. My dance proficiency wasn’t bad enough to need basic training, but I lacked the skill to keep up with advanced choreography—stuck in that infuriating “intermediate” zone. My competitive spirit was starting to flare up.
I was going to tear off that “intermediate” label.
“Alright, that’s enough for today. Good work.”
After repeating a few step routines about three hundred times, even walking felt like my ankles would snap with each step.
‘I don’t even have the energy to get water.’
Torn between hydration and fatigue recovery, I ultimately chose to collapse on the floor, exhaling as I surveyed the practice room. The people I’d seen on the first day had mostly paired off, stretching or chatting with each other.
Two people were missing from their usual spots.
‘Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru.’
Those two again.
It’d been about two weeks since classes started, and during that time, those two had repeatedly skipped practice or been called away under various pretexts.
‘And the one who reacts most sensitively every time is that one over there.’
“Hey, everyone—take breaks if you need to, but at least clean up after yourselves.”
After class ended, Han Sung-woo, who’d been having some additional conversation with the Dance Trainer, shook out his sweat-dampened hair and shouted in an irritatingly sharp voice. Everyone, let’s put these away and rest. At his words, dripping with suppressed irritation, the scattered trainees exchanged glances and got to their feet.
‘It’s not like we need to clean up right now.’
Still, everyone was standing, so I couldn’t just sit idle. I tried to get up to put something away when I noticed Han Sung-woo approaching me. What? Why is he coming over?
“Ha-jin, you should rest. Following along with the practice must be exhausting enough.”
“…No, it’s fine. We should all clean up together.”
“Never mind. You don’t know the equipment well enough yet, and if you accidentally damage something expensive, that’ll be even more of a headache.”
Is he making fun of me?
If I just agreed and sat down, the others’ eyes would sharpen—that much was obvious without looking.
Unable to discern the source of this subtle hostility, I glanced at him, and Han Sung-woo stood beside me with an unchanged expression. Then he smiled slightly and scanned me quickly.
“It’s tough adjusting, isn’t it? Jumping straight to advanced without the basics must be brutal.”
“Yes, my stamina is lacking, I’m afraid.”
“It doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t rush. Beginners like you usually struggle at first.”
By this point, it was hard not to notice this was a power struggle. The nuance had felt off since day one. Just as Han Sung-woo, who didn’t seem to be merely the well-meaning class president, put his hand in his pants pocket and tried to drape his arm over my shoulder—
Bang.
“What?”
The firmly shut practice room door burst open loudly. I was pretty sure it was Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru, so I deliberately didn’t look, but their noisy footsteps naturally directed themselves toward me.
“Hyung!”
At the solemn call, I turned to find Dan Ha-ru staring at me with flushed ears and an indignant huff. Wait—did my hair gel slip?
“Me?”
When I asked if he’d called me, he nodded with unwavering resolve. His shout had been so loud that not only Han Sung-woo standing beside me, but all the other trainees turned to look.
This was… awkward.
“Ha-ru, what is it? Do you have something to say?”
“….”
“…?”
“Vending machine….”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Let’s go get vending machine snacks!”
“…Huh?”
You’ll die eating that stuff, seriously.
The words I couldn’t bring myself to say echoed only in my mind.

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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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