Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 180

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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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180. The Earth Is Round (4)
Lee Hyun-il hesitated as he recounted the events of that day.
“Back then, after the senior trainees from our debut group all dropped out one by one, there weren’t many of us left. So we all became close with each other, you know? The team unity was really good.”
Even as Lee Hyun-il spoke, shame weighed on him—his gaze remained fixed downward throughout.
I simply listened to what Lee Hyun-il had to say.
It wasn’t out of any noble intention to hear him out to the end.
Just.
That single word—”just”—sealed my lips.
“…Do you remember, hyung? Not long after that, you got sick. It was the flu or something, and you couldn’t come to the company for about two weeks. That’s when we all decided to go out together as a group to bond.”
“….”
“But honestly, what are a bunch of teenage boys going to do when they hang out? Play some games, eat, go to a karaoke room and have fun, and then… naturally, the conversation turned to people who weren’t there. That was you.”
After that, Lee Hyun-il added various other explanations, but the conclusion remained simple.
I was a sacrifice.
A sacrifice to bind their anxious, unsettled hearts together with a single, sticky thread.
“Honestly, it’s not like the others were uncomfortable with you. You said it yourself—you know your personality wasn’t great. I’ve been hurt by your words a few times too.”
“….”
“But… was that something you only did to me? At that age, with all those boys barely eating properly and just practicing every day, everyone’s on edge and irritable. …We just took it out on you.”
“….”
“Hyung. I know it’s really shameless of me to say this now… but Gwang-chae hyung was the first one to bring you up. He kept pretending it wasn’t him while testing the others, steering the conversation toward you, setting the mood—”
“Stop.”
“…?”
“Stop talking.”
It was Lee Do-ha who cut off Lee Hyun-il, who was pouring out words like a horse with a broken bridle. Lee Do-ha even extended his hand in a gesture telling him to stop, and only then did Lee Hyun-il’s head snap up. Now he could finally see the expression on Ha-jin’s face, sitting directly across from him.
“….”
Upon seeing Ha-jin’s expression, Lee Hyun-il swallowed hard and couldn’t continue speaking.
Had he ever seen a person make such an expression in his life?
Watching Ha-jin wear an expression he’d never seen in movies or dramas, Hyun-il lowered his head like a criminal once more. He couldn’t muster the courage to meet his eyes.
Soon, Ha-jin opened his mouth.
“…You.”
“…What?”
“Were you also… just?”
Did he mean: were you also just ostracized? Or did he mean: did you also just ostracize me?
Hyun-il briefly pondered which of the two meanings Ha-jin’s “just” held. But then he realized that the answer to both questions was the same, and he slowly nodded.
“Yeah.”
“….”
“I know whatever I say will sound like an excuse. …I’m sorry, hyung.”
“…Okay.”
Ha-jin answered in an utterly dry voice. So many emotions were tangled together that, paradoxically, no emotion could be felt in it at all.
Ha-jin rose silently from his seat and picked up his phone from the table. Then he ended the call.
“Thanks for telling me, even if it’s late. Take care.”
“H-hey, hyung. Ha-jin hyung!”
As I turned away coldly, Lee Hyun-il rose from his seat without thinking. His arm, which had instinctively reached out to grab me, was blocked by Do-ha, and he spoke urgently.
“I’m sorry, hyung. I know you had a hard time back then. That’s why I came to help! If there’s anything I can do for you—,”
“Can you post what you said on the Internet? Right now.”
At my cold response, Lee Hyun-il stopped speaking and took a step back. Then, stepping closer to him instead, I pressed forward sharply.
“Can you reveal your real name and expose everything that happened back then? Can you be a witness?”
“….”
“You can’t, can you. You just came to me because you wanted to see Yu Gwang-chae and Park Shin-wook get what’s coming to them. Because you resented being ostracized by them. Unlike you, who goes to the Academy, I have the Company and fans who shield me.”
Unable to deny it, Lee Hyun-il simply listened to the words pouring out.
Watching him, I exhaled deeply and pressed my throbbing forehead.
“…I don’t want to be angry with you. So just go.”
“Hyung….”
“That story you just told me is enough. Go. I’m not confident I can speak kindly right now.”
Faced with a clear dismissal, Lee Hyun-il finally clamped his lips shut, gathered his things awkwardly, and stood up. This wasn’t how he’d wanted this to go, and being treated this way made him feel unfairly wronged. Even though he knew he had no right to feel that way.
“Lee Hyun-il.”
As Lee Hyun-il gathered his belongings and tried to pass me, I spoke his name.
Hoping it might be a signal of reconciliation, he quickly turned his head, only to feel deflated again as I still wouldn’t even look at him. Standing with my back to him, I spoke quietly.
“…Be careful on your way in.”
At my final farewell, born from deep deliberation, Lee Hyun-il fled the scene.
And both of us could feel that this truly was our ‘final farewell’—that we would never smile and see each other’s faces again.
Both of us could feel it.
* * *
After returning to the Dormitory, I lay in my bed without moving an inch.
“Hey, Kang Ha-jin! You need to eat something!”
“Tae-hyun, just leave it. …It’s better to let him be alone right now.”
“Ugh, thinking about those damn bastards again makes my blood boil. And then they write some exposé post? These crazy sons of—!”
“Seo Tae-hyun, just breathe. Your face looks like it’s about to burst.”
“It’s not my face that’s about to burst—it’s my insides! My insides are bursting!”
From beyond the door, I could hear Tae-hyun’s voice, equally invested in the situation and seething with anger, and Si-woo and Yoo Gun trying to calm him down. But I remained motionless.
“Hyung…. I’m leaving some water and snacks here. Please eat them!”
“Do-ha hyung said he’s just sleeping in the Living Room today. So you can use this room alone comfortably today.”
I could feel the younger ones fidgeting and speaking to me from behind my turned back, but I simply closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think about anything right now.
With my phone turned off, I forced my eyes shut. I just wanted to sleep. Today had been far too exhausting.
“Ha-jin hyung.”
Ha-ru, who had been about to turn off the light and leave, came back and called to me. After hesitating for a while, urged by Eun-chan to hurry up, he carefully patted what he assumed to be my shoulder through the blanket.
“…See you tomorrow.”
With those words, the light went out and the door closed.
And I fell asleep.
I didn’t dream.
But I was already trapped in a nightmare.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, evening had long since passed.
“…Ah. I’m starving.”
I’d slept so deeply that I’d forgotten what had happened, and the reason I woke was hunger. Since I hadn’t eaten anything after the hearty breakfast Yoo Gun had prepared, it was hardly surprising.
Kang Ha-jin was the type of person who had to eat three meals a day, even on the most devastatingly sad days.
“Is anyone here?”
It was still early to sleep, yet the Dormitory was quiet.
Sensing something amiss, I stepped out of my room to find the Living Room dark except for a single mood light, with no one around.
Wondering where everyone had gone, I looked around the Dormitory and found a single sheet of A4 paper carelessly taped above the refrigerator.
<Practice starts today so we're heading to the Company. The Executive Director said you should rest until today. There's rice and side dishes in the refrigerator, so you must eat when you wake up. (Tae-hyun hyung confirmed this!!!)
"…This is definitely Seo Tae-hyun."
There was no name written, but the round handwriting and the postscript about how I couldn't resist Seo Tae-hyun's words were unmistakably his. I could almost hear Tae-hyun's voice somewhere, and I chuckled softly as I peeled the A4 paper from the refrigerator.
"…?"
I thought I'd read all the memo, but there was a P.S. hastily added at the bottom. I slowly read it.

“Since when is my mom an aunt?”
It was obvious what had happened—on the day of the wrap-up dinner after finals, my charismatic mother and Seo Tae-hyun, the master of charm, had hit it off so perfectly that they’d decided to call each other aunt and nephew. I could picture that day without even seeing it, and I went into my room to find my phone.
Buzz—
The moment I turned on my phone, notifications and messages poured in from everywhere. I cleared all the alerts with a light touch, then dialed my mother’s number, which I’d memorized by heart.
-Hello? Ha-jin?
It didn’t take long before I heard my mother’s voice through the phone, and I barely managed to hold back tears like some crybaby.
She must have been shocked seeing the articles, and calling her after so long just to cry would be the height of unfilial behavior—I had to engrave this on my mind again and again.
-Hey, son. Have you eaten? Mom marinated some ribs and sent them with your manager.
“Ah. So those were mom’s ribs. No wonder they were so delicious.”
-Right?
Wait. That’s not it?
Once again, my mother’s response was completely unexpected, and I felt slightly taken aback. Yet my mother continued the ordinary conversation as if nothing had happened—or rather, as if she didn’t know anything had.
-How’s the Dormitory? The Executive Director showed me photos of the new interior design. It looked so nice.
“…Well. I haven’t seen the whole place yet.”
-Since you’re sharing the space, make sure to keep it clean and eat well.
My mother showed no sign of concern whatsoever. That actually made me feel more at ease.
I didn’t have to pretend everything was fine.
-Anyway, mom’s already lonely. Without my eldest son. When I came home and there’s no one chattering away, it feels so empty.
“I’ll visit home often. What’s Ha-won up to these days?”
-What else? Ha-won’s become a total star at his art academy lately because of the TV appearance.
“Oh my. Poor Kang Ha-won.”
Yet as the conversation continued, I began to understand.
My mother was waiting for me to bring up the subject first.
So Ha-jin decided to broach the subject at a moment that wasn’t too late.
“Mom.”
-Yes, son.
“…You know, those kids I mentioned? The ones I used to be close with at KD Entertainment before we had that falling out.”
Perhaps because I had already unburdened myself to Do-ha the night before, recounting those events to my mother a second time didn’t feel nearly as difficult.
In fact, the more I spoke, the more scenes came flooding back with newfound clarity, and I began to understand things differently—*So that’s how it must have been*, *Perhaps the situation was like this*—pieces falling into place.
Most of what I told my mother mirrored what I had shared with Do-ha, but there was one crucial difference.
“I guess it just didn’t sit right with them.”
Where I had once blindly accepted everything as punishment for my own shortcomings and failures, I no longer blamed myself entirely.
“I’ve always thought everything was my fault… but maybe it wasn’t, Mom.”
The inadequate, clumsy version of myself back then was simply inadequate and clumsy—nothing more. Like anyone else would have been.
The moment I found myself pitying that Kang Ha-jin who had been despised by everyone, I could finally breathe.
“It’s so anticlimactic and absurd, but at the same time….”
I buried my face in my hands as I spoke.
“I’m just… so grateful.”
Grateful that I could become a good person.
Kang Ha-jin felt as though I might finally escape that dark, lonely Practice Room.

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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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