Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 171

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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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171. Penalty (2)
Three hours before the incident.
“Hey, I’m about to head out now.”
-We already met up with Kwon Wook. Should we just go straight to Eun-chan’s place? How are you getting there?
“Dad’s car.”
-Oh, okay. See you later then.
“Wait, is Dan Ha-ru coming too?”
-Yeah. He was chattering away the moment we got in the car, but he’s exhausted now and sleeping. Since we’re gonna have a blast later anyway, I figured it was better to just let him rest.
“Good call. See you in a bit then. Hanging up.”
I ended the call with Seo Tae-hyun as I climbed into the passenger seat.
With two burly adult men cramming themselves into a compact economy car, the chassis practically kissed the pavement—it felt like riding in a baby stroller. I watched my father naturally start the engine and adjust the driver’s seat, then spoke with quiet resolve.
“Once I start making money, should I upgrade the car first?”
“…Yeah, it’s about time we did, isn’t it?”
Dad chuckled with a hint of embarrassment and gently pulled out onto the road.
Originally, I’d planned to just take the subway. But after running into Sang-yul’s sister at the neighborhood playground last time, and before that, crying in front of the subway station and becoming the “subway story guy”—
I figured I shouldn’t be wandering around carelessly, so I took Dad up on his offer.
“So are you staying over at their place today?”
“Looks like it. Since there’s nowhere special to go, we just decided to gather at Eun-chan’s place.”
“Who all is coming?”
“Me, Dan Ha-ru, Ju Eun-chan, Seo Tae-hyun… and Lee Do-ha. Five of us total.”
Jeong Si-u was skipping for his peer soldier retreat, and Lee Yu-gun couldn’t make it because he was helping at his grandfather’s store.
I’d expected those two to bail, but Lee Do-ha’s attendance was a surprise—I was genuinely caught off guard when I saw him vote yes.
‘Well, having one more person around is always better anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.’
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I checked it to find a personal message from Seo Tae-hyun.
【Miro_Kairos_Seo Tae-hyun: Hyung, make sure you film a selfie cam when Kwon Wook hyung leaves~ The content team said we absolutely HAVE to get it!】
【Miro_Kairos_Seo Tae-hyun: Me and Ha-ru already got ours!】
【Miro_Kairos_Seo Tae-hyun: (cat emoji cheering obnoxiously)】
Yeah. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal at all….
The problem was that today’s outing had turned into something bigger.
“Dad. Can I ask you something….”
“Hm?”
“…Can you just pretend you don’t notice for a moment?”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Dad’s confused gaze, I turned on the phone’s camera and adjusted the angle. I’d already pressed the recording button, but the moment my eyes met my own reflection in the front-facing camera on the screen, the reality check hit me hard again.
“Ugh. This isn’t easy.”
Since we were just gathering at someone’s place to hang out, I had to report it to the company first, so I told Ji Su-ho about it. When he heard, Ji Su-ho made an utterly workaholic suggestion: ‘Why waste time just playing? Since you’re gonna hang out anyway, let’s turn it into content!’
As a result, Jeong Si-u ended up at his peer soldier retreat, Lee Yu-gun at his grandfather’s store, and the rest of us were tasked with filming today’s gathering on selfie cam. The content team kept emphasizing how we absolutely had to capture the departure scene for the V-log format.
‘Honestly, I could just say I forgot to film it and do a separate opening once we get to Eun-chan’s place.’
But the content team member who’d have to edit this is too much on my mind!
They already have their hands full trying to edit someone else’s mundane daily life into hilarious AiTube-worthy content!
I need at least some footage of people departing, otherwise how am I supposed to even make an opening segment?
Plus, Seo Tae-hyun and Dan Ha-ru are already done filming, and Lee Do-ha and Ju Eun-chan follow directions well, so they must have plenty of footage. But if I’m the only one missing—!
What if Destiny misunderstands and thinks I’m discriminating against Kang Ha-jin’s screen time just because I couldn’t film it myself?
‘…Damn occupational hazard.’
Defeated by my own inner voice, I let out a small sigh, cleared my throat, and picked up my phone again.
I switched the camera quality to the highest setting so I could crop it easily later if needed, and set the resolution to 1080p. I took a long breath, relaxed my facial muscles once, pressed the record button again, and made eye contact with my reflection in the phone screen.
“Hey, Destiny.”
“…Pfft.”
I steadfastly ignored the unexpected sound of Father’s laughter at his son’s sudden business venture.
Since I’d already started, I’d just have to steel myself and finish this in one take.
“It’s currently 4:20 PM. I’m on my way to Joo Eun-chan’s place right now. Today marks the very first Kairos friendship gathering.”
Any decent opening just needs to follow the five W’s and one H.
Who, when, where, what, how, and why—you need to provide the basic information.
I faithfully followed that basic principle as I spoke. I hadn’t planned this beforehand, but once the camera started rolling, the words just flowed naturally.
“Si-woo and Yoo Gun are spending time with their families, so we decided it’ll just be five of us today. Since it’s the first time we’re meeting after the finals, it might feel a bit awkward at first… but I’m sure it’ll be fun when we get together again.”
Now that I think about it, this footage I’m filming right now will be the first teaser after the finals, won’t it?
Thinking about how Tamla’s SNS had been quiet without any major teasers right after the finals, I realized that despite feeling a bit embarrassed and reluctant, filming this was the right call.
“Well then, I’ll turn this back on after we meet up. I’ll make sure to capture all the fun moments today. I hope you all enjoy it too.”
Bye.
I gave a small wave with my free hand and stopped recording.
When I heard the notification sound, a sudden wave of embarrassment hit me, but thinking that this was something I’d have to get used to anyway, my mind felt considerably lighter.
“Son, your ears are bright red.”
“That’s not my ears. It’s my hair. The hair dye is fading.”
“Your face is red too though. Did you wash your face with hair dye?”
…Of course, enduring Father’s grin the whole way there, clearly planning to tease me, was a different matter entirely.
* * *
Before I knew it, we’d arrived in Seoul after chatting away with Father.
I was about to check the navigation on Father’s phone to see how much longer we had, when my own phone rang with a call from Seo Tae-hyun. Wondering what was going on, I answered immediately, and I heard a loud crash followed by Seo Tae-hyun’s panicked voice.
“Hey, Seo Tae-hyun. What’s wrong? What happened?”
Worried it might be an accident, I quickly straightened up in my seat. Just in case, I opened the system window, but aside from the penalty notice, there were no other notifications. Because of that damn penalty, I’d been on edge about even the smallest things lately.
Fortunately, after a brief moment of silence, Seo Tae-hyun answered the phone again in a casual tone.
-Oh, hyung. Sorry, sorry. Ha-ru and Eun-chan broke the curtain rod while hanging up a garland.
…What exactly do you have to do to break something like that?
What’s even more absurd is that Seo Tae-hyun says it so casually, as if it’s a familiar occurrence.
Still, relieved that it wasn’t anything serious, I relaxed my tense shoulders.
“You scared me. …Why did you call anyway? I’ve still got about 30 minutes to go.”
-Um, hyung. Is Do-ha hyung answering your calls?
“…? No. I haven’t contacted him separately.”
-Do-ha hyung was supposed to arrive an hour ago, but he’s been unreachable since then. Since you said you’d come on your own, Ha-ru and I just rode with Kwon Wook hyung and came straight to Eun-chan’s place.
“He’s probably just sleeping. You know he usually takes afternoon naps after finishing work in the early morning.”
-I suppose so… Still, that hyung wouldn’t just ghost us like that without a reason….
Hearing Seo Tae-hyun’s words, I had to admit he had a point.
I stared at the penalty window still floating before my eyes. The memory of that bastard Dol-ja suddenly making Park Jae-young sick during the first round of Miro Maze overlapped in my mind.
If he’d just overslept and ghosted, that would be fine, but if it wasn’t that….
-Anyway, so he’s asking if you could stop by the dormitory on your way now.
“The dormitory? Our dormitory?”
-Yeah. Do-ha hyung is staying at the dormitory right now. Didn’t you know?
“…Oh. Well. Yeah, got it. I’ll go check it out.”
I’d given him two weeks off—why the hell was he holed up alone in the dormitory?
Despite my confusion, I told Seo Tae-hyun I understood and hung up the phone.
“Dad, just drop me off at our dormitory. I’ll give you the address.”
“The dormitory?”
“Yeah. There’s a member there, so I’ll pick him up. Just drop me off at the dormitory and you go. You said you had a meeting today anyway.”
Since Dad had a meeting in Seoul today and was giving me a ride, there wasn’t enough time to go to the dormitory and then drive back to Joo Eun-chan’s place. When he asked if that was still okay, I nodded and changed the navigation destination to our dormitory address.
Fortunately, the dormitory was closer than Joo Eun-chan’s place, so I arrived in no time.
“How will you get to Eun-chan’s place later?”
“I’ll call a taxi or something. The manager hyung is there too.”
“Alright. Have fun today.”
“Yeah. Go on~”
After confirming Dad’s car had left, I headed up to the dormitory.
Between the two houses facing each other, I entered the opposite one—not the dormitory I usually used. Both houses shared the same password anyway.
“I should have them change all these passwords now….”
Even if there weren’t any privacy issues yet, who knew what could happen in the future.
Thinking that security was paramount, I stepped into Lee Do-ha’s dormitory. As soon as I entered, I spotted the sneakers he frequently wore in the shoe rack.
“What? He’s home then?”
The shoes were there, but there was no sign of anyone in the living room.
Where the hell did he go?
When I called Lee Do-ha, a vibration sound came from a corner of the living room sofa.
“What the… his phone is here….”
Everything’s here, so where’s the person?
As that thought crossed my mind, anxiety began crawling up the back of my neck.
If that bastard Dol-ja really pulled something….
Thump, thump—
“Damn it, you scared me! Please!”
While my mind was conjuring every possible scenario, a knocking sound came from the innermost corner room of the house. I was so startled I nearly lost consciousness, and I found myself sitting down hard, still clutching Lee Do-ha’s phone.
“…Lee Do-ha?”
If Lee Do-ha’s shoes were here and his phone was here, there was a 99% chance the person knocking on that door was Lee Do-ha. But for some reason, anxiety gripped me, and I quickly scanned the dormitory.
What if there really was an intruder or something? What then?
What if Lee Do-ha had been captured by some bad guy and was bound up, knocking on the door with his head to send out a distress signal….
‘Ah, Kang Ha-jin. Stop overthinking.’
I stopped my ridiculous fantasy—the kind Thirteen would have scolded me for—and, just in case, pulled a frying pan from the kitchen before cautiously making my way toward the problematic room.
“…Lee Do-ha?”
Knock knock!
As I called out to Lee Do-ha from closer range, I heard knocking again. Standing before the door, I could hear him saying something from inside, but the soundproofing was so effective that his words came out as nothing but an unintelligible murmur.
“Hey, I can’t hear you! Is that you, Lee Do-ha?”
But why was he acting like this inside the room? Had he gotten trapped?
I reached for the doorknob to try opening it, but contrary to my paranoid imagination, the handle turned far too easily, and the door swung open with a click.
And there stood Lee Do-ha in full outdoor attire, staring at me with a vacant expression.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, well….”
Curious about what he’d been up to in here, I glanced around the room and noticed that during his break, he’d brought in all his work equipment and had the walls completely soundproofed.
“That’s why no sound carries from outside.”
“I was all ready to go out, but I came back in to grab my wallet, and then the door got locked.”
“The door? It opens fine from out there.”
“Ah. It opens fine from the outside, but strangely, once you close it from inside….”
Creak, slam.
“….”
“…it won’t open.”
So I had simply walked into the room without thinking and let the door close behind me while listening to Lee Do-ha speak.
“….”
“….”
“…Did I just close the door?”
“…Yeah.”
I came to rescue him!
No, I’m trapped too.
‘Ah, today’s not going smoothly.’
Kairos’s debut content….
Lee Do-ha and Kang Ha-jin’s impromptu escape room win.

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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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