Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 17

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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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17. The Most Effective Way to Defuse a Bomb (2)
Ji Su-ho arrived at the meeting place in thirty minutes flat—a feat worthy of admiration. Despite hanging up my call in such a panic, he approached me with surprising composure, clenched his teeth, and spoke.
“What on earth are you suddenly saying…?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? I was simply stating facts.”
“I was genuinely startled thinking other employees might have heard you.”
As always, despite his title as Miro’s guardian angel, he was surprisingly soft-hearted.
I was now sitting in a nearby Hamburger Restaurant with Ji Su-ho, who had sprinted here the moment I hung up, eating hamburger sets. I’d briefly wondered if a trainee should be eating this, but the savory aroma of fries dispelled my concerns in an instant.
Well, if I’m worried, I’ll just run ten laps around the practice field today before bed.
“Suddenly talking about the Executive Director and promotions. What kind of nonsense is this?”
To Ji Su-ho, whose eyes had gone wide with confusion, I recounted everything I’d discovered from beginning to end—the audacious schemes the Executive Director was orchestrating and the tyranny he was inflicting on the trainees. Cautious as I was, I refrained from mentioning Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru by name.
“…I had no idea.”
“Well, your Team Leader was dedicated to Endway anyway.”
“Still, to be at the company and know nothing of such things…”
Ji Su-ho clenched his teeth, genuinely distressed.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m thinking of using this opportunity to cut the Executive Director out of Miro entirely.”
“How? It won’t be easy. Even though he’s treated as a loose cannon now, he’s still considered a founding contributor.”
“…”
“People say he lacks intuition, but many also acknowledge his eye for discovering talented trainees remains sharp.”
The problem is he uses that sharp eye to prey on trainees.
I selected the longest, crispest fry, dipped it generously into my milkshake, and shrugged.
“Team Leader.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know the fastest way to defuse a bomb?”
The fry I’d bitten into tumbled back into the milkshake. Some of the partially melted shake splattered slightly.
“You detonate it. It’s the most certain method. No risk of it exploding again, no worry about botching the removal.”
“…That’s not safe at all.”
“Then what’s the safest way to detonate a bomb?”
Isn’t detonating it inherently unsafe? Whether Ji Su-ho said this with his eyes or not, I continued.
“You tell the person who planted it to detonate it themselves.”
“That’s not safe either.”
“I’m safe.”
“…”
“I’m not obligated to worry about the welfare of an Executive Director who preys on minors.”
Whoever sows the wind reaps the whirlwind. At my softly spoken words, Ji Su-ho flinched. Was that really what I meant?
“So what exactly are you planning to do?”
Still, curiosity had apparently taken root, and Ji Su-ho asked me with a bewildered expression.
Of course, I’d prepared an answer for that question. I handed him the stack of A4 papers I’d placed beside me in an L-shaped folder.
“What is this?”
“Read it.”
“…Those who would touch the sun, take flight?”
“And even further down.”
“A survival show? Finding Miro’s Icarus? This?”
I threw a straightforward pitch at Ji Su-ho, who flipped through the A4 pages in a daze, reaching the last sheet in seconds.
“It’s a survival show. An internal survival competition to determine Miro’s next male idol group.”
Who could possibly decide who deserves to debut?
But the public could. Especially if Miro’s genuine fans—those who fiercely supported the company’s philosophy of “company favoritism” with clear concepts and demand for each male idol—existed, there was no reason they couldn’t.
“This is the item Team Leader will bring to the Executive Director at the next meeting.”
“Miro’s next survival show!? No, with what funding?”
“Ah, that’s all prepared too. Would you flip to page eight?”
At my words, Ji Su-ho turned to page eight as if entranced. There, contact information for several investment firms already showing interest in this proposal, major brands indicating sponsorship potential, and broadcast station producers or external production companies capable of handling this as their main project were all listed.
“I did some broadcast work in my first life.”
“But you said you were an idol trainee?”
“That was just briefly in my teens. I quit and found a way to make a living.”
“You said you worked at an agency too?”
“That was just for a bit after taking a leave from university.”
Ji Su-ho, who had been thinking for a moment at my words, asked seriously.
“…What haven’t you done?”
“Well, being an idol?”
When I answered nonchalantly, Ji Su-ho nodded as if that made sense and flipped through my proposal once more.
Reading it over and over again made me quite nervous. It felt like I needed confirmation.
“The Executive Director isn’t interested in the next debut group anyway. Rather, he’s probably desperate to poach all the decent kids before the debut group is even decided. So the idea is to play defense before he makes his move.”
“A survival show… as defense?”
“You’re not going to debut all the current trainees anyway. Plus, at this rate, honestly, kids who didn’t make the elite class don’t have a chance.”
Internal survival shows sometimes had predetermined winners, but the advantage of a survival show was that it would be broadcast.
If someone simply failed to make the debut group within the company, no one would remember their dream. But once it’s broadcast, that changes.
“Even if they don’t debut, they can at least make an impression on the countless K-pop wanderers eagerly waiting for the next rookie.”
If they simply showcase their potential, their standing within the agency—and even love calls from other agencies—could expand infinitely.
So this was the “fair opportunity for everyone” I had promised Ju Eun-chan.
“The proposal is one thing, but how did you get these investors?”
“That’s a trade secret.”
Ji Su-ho seemed curious about how I’d managed to secure these investment proposals, but I had my own trade secrets too.
“Knowing would hurt you.”
“It’s not illegal, right?”
“…Yes. For now.”
Anyway, they weren’t committing to investment immediately—just expressing interest. More detailed discussions could happen after this proposal became reality within Miro.
“I’ll review it first. It’s not easy to just hand over an item like this, and it’s Miro’s first survival show.”
I nodded, since I wasn’t about to bark orders like some rookie either. Now that I’d dropped one bomb, I needed to think about how to detonate the next one, and have more concrete discussions.
Bzzzz―
“Ah, sorry. I suddenly have a call.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll review this proposal.”
I checked my phone when a sudden call came through, and Dan Ha-ru’s number—which I’d saved not long ago—was displayed clearly on the screen.
‘…? I didn’t call him, did I?’
I hadn’t even recruited him as a colleague yet, so why was he calling? A strange prickling sensation set off alarms in my mind. Ah, I’ve always had good instincts about these things.
“Hello? What is it?”
-Hyung, please help Tae-hyun hyung!
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
-Tae-hyun hyung is at Rene right now. It looks like he went to find Min-seok hyung and they got into a huge fight!
“What?”
So the kitten that had been getting rained on finally snapped. Damn it, this is such a mess.
* * *
“Dan Ha-ru!”
“Hyung…”
“Ah. Manager Jang.”
“We keep meeting over things like this, Team Leader. Should we discuss this separately?”
Rene’s new building conference room, which I was visiting for the first time, gleamed just like a Greek temple.
When we arrived, we were naturally greeted by Jang Seo-yun, the manager at Rene. I left the complicated traffic control to Ji Su-ho and entered the conference room with Dan Ha-ru, where Seo Tae-hyun was waiting.
The cherry boy who had been all about that fresh smile was now sitting in the corner of the conference room with a face that bore the weight of all the world’s rebellion, as if every smile until now had been a lie.
Seeing Seo Tae-hyun with eyes still full of anger and avoiding my gaze, something began to churn inside me. It seemed there had been a fistfight—his usually clean face now bore scratches.
I’d only seen him a few times, but somehow I’d grown attached to him in that short span. My mind raced through countless lectures and scoldings.
Are you out of your mind? An idol trainee beating someone up? On your days off you should just stay home and watch Netflix, and yet you do this? What were you thinking—if you debut later, what then? Are you someone who goes around hitting people? Are you a thug? Is this what you’ve been grinding your teeth and practicing for all this time?
And among all those racing thoughts, the first words that tumbled out were these.
“Seo Tae-hyun.”
“…”
“Did you win?”
No, that’s not what I meant to say.
“…Hyung?”
“…”
At my words, both Dan Ha-ru and Seo Tae-hyun looked up at me with wide eyes. Truth be told, I was the most flustered after saying that, but since the words were already out, I continued as smoothly as I could manage.
“You didn’t lose, did you?”
“…I won!”
“Good. That’s something to be proud of, kid.”
“…”
The moment I provoked him, he immediately got emotional and opened his mouth—that’s just what a tempestuous nineteen-year-old does. Ah, these teenagers are exhausting. Really.
“I’m impressed, Tae-hyun. You beat Cha Min-seok.”
“…Don’t mock me. What would you know?”
There was no way pretty words would come from Seo Tae-hyun’s mouth now that he’d taken a defensive stance. Dan Ha-ru looked surprised, as if seeing this side of Seo Tae-hyun for the first time. But honestly, I find this easier to deal with than some forced smile.
“Yeah? What don’t I know?”
“…”
“The anxiety that you might not debut because you lost the concept and position battle, just like at Boy Heaven?”
“The impatience that your prime has already flickered and burned out?”
Seo Tae-hyun met my gaze as if asking how I’d managed to peer into his heart. I kept my chin tucked, preparing the next uppercut with deliberate ease.
“Or maybe it’s your frustration with the Executive Director threatening to block your debut, and Cha Min-seok abandoning you to go to Rene Entertainment?”
“…hyung, you… you heard everything that day?”
“So what don’t I know now? If there’s anything else, tell me. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Whether my deduction—drawn from memories of my past life and pieced together—had hit the mark, Seo Tae-hyun’s neck flushed crimson as he bit down hard on his lip. This kid really didn’t know the value of his own body.
I cracked his joint.
“Ah! Are you insane? Why are you targeting someone else’s leg!?”
“Aren’t you an idol trainee?”
….
“You’re not relaxing your mouth? If you get scars on your lips, are you going to photoshop them out one by one yourself?”
Seo Tae-hyun’s face shifted to an “oh no” expression as he hurried to check his lips, but then he seemed to realize he was still in full rebellion mode and roughly dropped his hand again.
“…It’s not like I’m going to debut anyway. What’s a little lip biting?”
Twisted and contorted, Seo Tae-hyun’s true feelings finally spilled out—far more shattered than I’d expected. His voice cracked and deepened as tears threatened to overflow.
“I can’t debut anyway. I’m going to quit.”
Seo Tae-hyun declared this with the face of someone who’d made a firm decision—a path completely opposite to what the Seo Tae-hyun of my past life had taken.

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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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