Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 13

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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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13. The Trainee Who Refuses to Debut (4)
I wanted to hear more details, but there’s an old saying: gossip travels by day, but the truth reaches those involved by night.
We decided to find a more private space for a proper conversation and headed back to the practice room for now. Dan Ha-ru’s eyes had grown a bit red in the meantime, so he hurried off to the restroom to splash some water on his face. Left alone with Ju Eun-chan, I draped an arm across his shoulder and pondered the situation.
“Where should we meet this evening? Restaurant districts are always crowded, which isn’t ideal.”
When discussing sensitive matters like this, caution is paramount—double caution, even. The fact that we’d already discussed this much at the company was already somewhat risky. Ju Eun-chan hesitated for a moment before offering his answer.
“…Would you like to come to my place?”
“Your place? I don’t mind, but your parents aren’t home, right?”
“I live alone near the company. My parents travel frequently for work, so they live near the airport.”
Ah, right. He was from a wealthy family.
“Alright then. That’s probably better. Though the last train will be gone by the time practice ends.”
“You can sleep at my place and we can commute to the practice room together tomorrow. I have an extra room, and the living room is spacious.”
…Is he even wealthier than I thought?
As I regarded Ju Eun-chan with a skeptical expression, he seemed embarrassed, scratching the back of his neck and avoiding my gaze.
“That’s why I haven’t told anyone at the company. Somehow the Executive Director found out…. Please don’t tell anyone else.”
“So you’re some young master living alone in prime Seoul real estate with two rooms and a spacious living room?”
“Don’t tease me.”
“Got you. How boring.”
“What’s so funny about that?”
Having revealed a secret, Ju Eun-chan seemed to feel a newfound closeness, pouting at my joke and grumbling. It was better than seeing him with that stick-thin frame and that troubled expression.
“So that’s why you’ve been awkward with the Class B kids? Because you’re a prime candidate for nepotism?”
“…Is it that obvious?”
“Only an idiot wouldn’t notice.”
….
“Ugh, forget it. So immature. Really, so immature, immature, immature.”
I’m nearly thirty, and watching these young teenagers engage in their petty mind games is absolutely exhausting. If I dug into the Han Sung-woo situation too, I felt like I’d be crossing a point of no return, so I held my tongue.
Where was Dan Ha-ru? I was thinking maybe we should just head to the practice room first when an unfamiliar voice called out to us from down the hallway.
“Hey! Eun-chan!”
“…Tae-hyun hyung!”
A boy with bleached pink hair and a gentle, somewhat melancholic expression approached us cheerfully, wiping his face with a wet towel. Something about him seemed familiar, and while I was trying to place him, Dan Ha-ru emerged from the restroom with an excited voice and embraced the boy without hesitation.
‘He looks like a trainee. Not from Class B, so probably Class A.’
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Oh, we were just talking with Ha-jin hyung about something. You haven’t met him before, right? He’s the new hyung who just joined us. Kang Ha-jin. Twenty years old.”
“Ah, I’ve heard about you from the instructors. Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Tae-hyun.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Kang Ha-jin.”
“You have a really nice voice. Oh, I’m nineteen. Feel free to speak comfortably with me, hyung.”
It’s unusual to make such a good impression on a first meeting. His bright voice, his refreshing smile—there was something oddly familiar about him.
“…Boy Heaven?”
At my instinctive words, Seo Tae-hyun’s smiling face froze in real time. The more I looked at that expression screaming “please don’t remember,” the clearer my memories of that survival show that once set the internet ablaze became. What was that program’s catchphrase again?
-There is no boy alike under heaven. Hello! I’m your boy, Seo Tae-hyun!
“Ah. Cherry Boy?”
“Good grief.”
“Brother, just give up. It’s easier if you do.”
“It’s hopeless, really. When will you ever escape this?”
Boy Heaven was a male idol survival show that aired roughly three years ago, and Seo Tae-hyun had been a participant who left quite an impression on fans with his clear voice and refreshing smile back then. Though he’d fallen short in the finals because the final debut group’s concept ended up being some dreamy, ethereal sexy concept between boyhood and manhood.
‘This guy gathered quite a few noona fans and did some solo activities even after the broadcast ended.’
In my first life, he’d been affiliated with an agency, but it wasn’t Miro. Rather, I recall he’d gone through several male idol debut groups that fell through, bounced between multiple agencies, and only debuted as a solo artist after becoming an adult. Had Miro been one of the companies he’d passed through?
‘Gathering information is the most urgent priority.’
Ugh, when I look at other web novel protagonists, they know future information perfectly and just do whatever they want, but why did I have to possess someone in an idol story I completely abandoned?
[System Alert: Possess? What kind of crude metaphor is that!]
Shut your mouth, you bastard.
“Oh, I saw that. Eun-chan’s performance that went up. Your dancing’s improved, you know.”
Just as I was wrapping up the conversation and looking for an angle to leave, Seo Tae-hyun’s single remark caused Ju Eun-chan’s expression to harden ominously. An awkward tension rippled through the air.
And Seo Tae-hyun, who’d spoken, didn’t seem to have intended it either, quickly following up with that refreshing smile of his and tapping Ju Eun-chan lightly.
“What? Why are you like that? I’m really fine, Eun-chan. I wouldn’t have been able to stand on that stage anyway, even if it wasn’t you. You know that.”
“…Still, I’m sorry. Brother.”
“Ah, forget it. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Don’t worry about me—you’re already struggling enough with the misunderstandings.”
“Brother.”
“If you apologize one more time, I’m really going to get mad.”
For someone claiming to be angry, his face was still brimming with smiles. Judging by the situation, it seemed Seo Tae-hyun was the one from Class A who’d taken the concert slot that Ju Eun-chan had been passed over for—if that’s the case, are these two pretty close?
“It’s not your fault either. I’ll just do well at something else and get my chance that way.”
“….”
“If I stay any longer, I’ll cry. Ha-ru, brother. I’m going first. See you next time. See you.”
As Ju Eun-chan’s expression grew increasingly stiff, Seo Tae-hyun quickly made his exit. I watched the flustered Seo Tae-hyun disappear, mentally flagging him as someone to keep an eye on, when I heard a painfully familiar and even more troublesome sound from beside me.
“…Sniff.”
“I’m losing my mind. What am I supposed to do if he cries at a time like this?”
With a face that screamed delinquent material, Miro had clearly gotten scammed just by looking at his appearance—there’s no way he’s actually soft-hearted.
“Eun-chan… don’t… cry….”
“This is driving me crazy.”
Just as I was trying to pat his shoulder, Dan Ha-ru, who’d been patting it alongside me, started sniffling too. Suddenly I’m cradling these grown men in my arms to comfort them, and the reality check of this situation hit me hard.
‘Yeah, it’s not your fault either.’
I need to deal with that Executive Director bastard….
* * *
“Eun-chan.”
“Yes.”
“You really are a rich kid, aren’t you?”
I spoke in a dazed admiration at the gleaming newness of the Luxury New Villa standing before us, and Ju Eun-chan, as expected, scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression. Well, he said so. At this point, not denying it was actually cooler.
“Let’s head up first. I really don’t have the energy to talk.”
After crying our hearts out and without time to endure the awkwardness, all three of us were ground down to the bone from practice—rest was desperately needed. Even the elevator in a nice place looks different.
‘Young, handsome, tall, and rich. Urgent.’
Thinking of families still starting their days in semi-basements, I felt a spark of determination ignite. I have to succeed. I have to succeed and make sure I never live a life where I can’t sleep in because of poor natural lighting in the morning.
“Here it is. Come in.”
“Hello….”
Ju Eun-chan’s apartment was spacious in the living room just as he’d described, and far too luxurious for an eighteen-year-old to live in alone. Even for a wealthy household, this seemed excessive. My surprise must have shown on my face, because he explained that until recently he’d been living with his older brother.
“You have an older brother?”
“Yes. But there’s quite an age gap between us. I ended up living alone after my brother got married.”
So that explained the oddly formal way he treated his seniors. I nodded in understanding and set my luggage and bag down in one corner of the living room.
“P-please, have a seat here.”
“Yeah, let’s sit.”
“….”
“I can understand why Na and Ha-ru are awkward, but why are you being so stiff? It looks weird if you’re uncomfortable here, Eun-chan.”
“You’re not going to tease me?”
“Just say it first.”
“…It’s my first time inviting someone over.”
What kind of innocent answer was that?
After blurting it out, Ju Eun-chan flushed with embarrassment in a way that was oddly endearing, and I couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed to think I was making fun of him, so he pouted and looked at me with resentful eyes.
“You said you wouldn’t tease me!”
“I only said to say it first.”
“You’re really a bad person.”
“Isn’t that the worst insult you know how to throw?”
“I know other ones too!”
“Like what? Go ahead.”
“I… why would I curse at my older brother!?”
“Ah, you didn’t fall for it.”
I shook my head regretfully, and watching him pout even harder with that indignant expression was satisfying in its own way.
“Eun-chan, Ha-ru told me you have a nickname.”
“…A nickname?”
“Yeah. Ju-Also-Doesn’t-Know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ju Eun-chan also doesn’t know.”
“How did I end up with a nickname like that?”
If I looked in a mirror right now, my eyes would be absolutely brimming with mischief. Yet Ju Eun-chan, who seemed so uncomfortable with this kind of interpersonal dynamic, gazed at me with nothing but pure curiosity, unaware he was being teased. That innocent look in his eyes—this Miro trainee’s pure gaze.
“It’s things like this. All of this right now. The very air that makes up Ju Eun-chan, this humidity, this temperature….”
“Hyung, you’re teasing me right now, aren’t you?”
“Exactly. The fact that you’re only realizing it now, all of it—it’s perfectly completing the worldview of Ju Eun-chan who also doesn’t know.”
Looking at Ju Eun-chan’s face, he clearly felt like something had happened to him, but he didn’t know what, so his expression was twisted in uncertainty about whether he should even be upset. I was desperately holding back my laughter, afraid that if I teased him again, he’d actually get angry. Just then, Dan Ha-ru came rushing back after apparently taking a shower instead of just washing his hands, and squeezed himself into the conversation.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Nothing, Ha-ru. Stay quiet. Eun-chan doesn’t know yet.”
“What don’t I know!”
“Hyung also didn’t know again?”
Thanks to Dan Ha-ru blinking his round eyes and landing that verbal jab on Ju Eun-chan, he froze for three seconds with an expression full of disillusionment. After all the rush and pressure of regression and everything else, it felt oddly refreshing to be caught up in this kind of childish wordplay among actual teenagers again, and my breathing finally began to settle.
[System Alert: Your condition as a fixed regressor stabilizes through ‘a friend’s affection’.]
[System Alert: ‘Wandering and Drifting’ mode reduced by 5%…. (Loading)]
The system windows kept popping up, apparently doing something useful. I skimmed through them—nothing looked bad—so I marked them as read and dismissed them. Time to actually rest.
I extended my hand toward Ju Eun-chan, whose face remained subtly irritated, offering conciliatory gestures of “I get it, I get it.” He looked down at me with suspicion, as if wondering what I was plotting now.
“What?”
“A handshake for a truce?”
“….”
Despite his lingering doubt, Ju Eun-chan extended his hand. Without a word, I transformed my outstretched palm into scissors, trapping his hand between my index and middle fingers. It took him about five seconds to process the situation before he realized he’d been caught again, and his frustration flared.
“Ah!”
“Your reaction time is seriously slow.”
“Why do you keep doing this, seriously!?”
“Because you react like that—that’s exactly why. Your reaction is the problem.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
I regret it, Eun-chan.
I’m not intimidated by your blank expression anymore.

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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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