Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 202

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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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202. Kairos (1)
The moment Yoo Gun sat down on the convenience store chair, he immediately issued me a warning.
“Don’t do it.”
“…Don’t eat ramen?”
As I gazed longingly at the cup ramen I’d just filled with water from the convenience store, Yoo Gun tore open the wooden chopstick wrapper he was holding and handed it to me, responding.
“I said don’t talk. Eat the ramen quickly before it gets cold.”
“If I don’t say anything for even a minute, I’ll go crazy from the tension.”
“…You’re doing it again, hyung. You feed me something and then make me all restless like this. Just like back then.”
Ah, I’m caught.
“Don’t make that caught expression. Just eat your ramen. Eat it quickly and let’s go inside.”
Yoo Gun took a sip of the canned coffee I’d bought him. Watching him deliberately turn his gaze to the night sky, I picked up a large forkful of the freshly boiled cup ramen with the wooden chopsticks he’d given me.
[System Alarm: W-what do we do?]
[System Alarm: The System is disheartened, saying the fixed regressor’s strategy has been seen through…!]
Thirteen made a fuss with a fluttering sound effect, but I focused intently on clearing the late-night snack in front of me as Yoo Gun instructed.
[System Alarm: A-are you really just hungry?]
‘No way. I’m full.’
[System Alarm: But you just ate one cup ramen, two triangle kimbap, one hot bar, and one tteokbokki!]
‘Exactly. Normally I’d need to eat two of each—the cup ramen and hot bars.’
[System Alarm: The System remains unable to understand the fixed regressor and falls into confusion….]
[System Alarm: ヾ(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉﾞ]
Just wait and see.
I closed out the noisy Thirteen with Alt+F4, then drained every last drop of broth from the remaining cup ramen. When I choked on it and started coughing, Yoo Gun, still gazing at the night sky, quickly opened the water bottle he was holding and handed it to me.
"Are you really a child? Even Dan Ha-ru eats more carefully than that."
I thanked Yoo Gun with a hand gesture and took a sip of water, and only then did the coughing finally subside.
"Wow, I really just swallowed that spicy stuff all at once."
"Want a tissue?"
"Yeah. I'm done eating, so should I get up? Can I throw this away inside the convenience store?"
As I stood up without any hesitation, Yoo Gun's expression subtly changed. Seeing him not lifting his back from the chair for more than three seconds after my words, I felt my strategy had succeeded.
'Late-night convenience store vibes. You can't ignore this, right?'
It wasn't for nothing that I'd spilled my whole story to Jeong Si-u back then in this very place.
Looking at Yoo Gun, soaked in the evening atmosphere just as much as I had been back then, I gazed up at the dark Seoul sky without a single star.
To Yoo Gun, who sat silently without saying anything, I spoke playfully.
"You told me not to talk, so I can't."
"…."
"But if you feel like you want to say something, I can listen."
"…Pfft, what's that."
"Because I'm your hyung."
I tapped the canned coffee in Yoo Gun's hand with my precious remaining tteokbokki like a toast. Yoo Gun's half-closed eyes moved languidly toward me. Then, with a deep sigh and a soft "huh," he wiped his face with a dry hand.
Yoo Gun's distinctly reddish lips opened after several attempts.
"I'm…not used to this kind of thing."
"Like this?"
"I'm serious. I hate getting serious. …My reality is already too much to handle."
In that moment, I understood why Yoo Gun approached everything so lightly.
I didn't add any commentary, simply resting my chin in my hand as I listened to what he had to say.
"I fought with Seo Tae-hyun over this too. For me, debut is a matter of immediate survival, but he kept pushing me to work harder and produce results together. As if I could just give up on debut now."
"…."
"So I said it in anger. That I was jealous he could pursue his dreams so comfortably."
"Geez."
"…I know I was wrong. I understand what that dream means to Seo Tae-hyun, but the words just came out like that back then."
Yeah, they had every right to fight….
The cause of this surprisingly intense quarrel made my throat feel parched for some reason. I kept my mouth shut and gulped down my drink, and Yoo Gun, who'd been glancing at me, fixed his gaze on the ground.
"Back then, in the van…. I'm sorry for what I said."
As expected, he'd been bothered by it, and Yoo Gun offered a belated apology. I simply looked at him without speaking.
I understood the emotions Yoo Gun was feeling. I'd experienced them once too.
Those emotions could be defined by so many different words.
Inferiority, resentment, alienation, anxiety, helplessness, frustration, impatience….
The feeling was so complex and tangled that perhaps even he couldn't fully explain everything he was experiencing—and such a state had a way of withering a person endlessly.
'What should I say to him….'
I continued gazing up at the night sky, unmarred by a single cloud or star, and carefully chose my words.
And just as a refreshingly cool breeze brushed across our cheeks, I offered him a single, carefully selected word like a gift.
"Yoo Gun."
"…Yes."
"I'm your older brother."
"…? I know."
"No, I don't think you do."
"…."
"I'm your older brother, not a friend or a younger sibling."
I was probably the first person you'd ever have in your life like this.
* * *
Yoo Gun needed a long moment to grasp what Ha-jin meant.
'Of course he's my older brother, so what.'
Something different from usual began to resonate when he pondered the word "older brother" more carefully.
'Older brother…. Right, he's my older brother.'
Come to think of it, wasn't this the first time he'd ever had an older brother this close to him?
Even the dancer hyungs he'd been relatively close to were honestly just older brothers in name—they'd never been this deeply involved in Yoo Gun's life.
Yoo Gun had envied them for dancing so freely, and they'd found his different life pitiful while also finding it burdensome.
Like this, living together, working together, practicing together….
So having an "older brother" he'd have to be with for the next seven years no matter what was truly unprecedented for Yoo Gun.
The more he dwelled on that fact, the stranger he felt, so Yoo Gun casually shrugged and adjusted his posture. I could see Ha-jin chuckling softly at him. Feeling as though my excited heart had been exposed, I quickly zipped my jacket all the way up to my neck.
"Anyway, how it feels to suddenly have three such reliable older brothers—we'll figure that out gradually as we go."
"…Are you sure they're reliable?"
"Quit your whining. Let's really go now. If Si-woo doesn't show up within ten minutes, we're unleashing Seo Tae-hyun to track us down."
"He's not a search dog or anything…."
While Yoo Gun was bewildered, I rose from my seat and began tidying up what I'd eaten. Yoo Gun watched me for a moment, then silently snatched the trash from my hands.
"What, why? Does this need separate sorting too?"
"That's usually something the younger sibling does."
"What kind of old-fashioned jerk taught you that? Bring them here. Who the hell told you something like that?"
"…Anyway, it's strange."
Faced with my response that always defied expectations, Yoo Gun laughed helplessly and headed into the Convenience Store with all the trash. Despite having disposed of these things countless times while working there, today for some reason he nearly threw plastic into the regular garbage bin several times.
The moment we finished throwing away all the trash and stepped back outside, I, with my hoodie pulled over my baseball cap, tapped Yoo Gun's shoulder with mine.
"Next time, just let me do it. Your habits are getting worse."
"…Seriously."
"This punk. I'm talking here and you're laughing?"
"Well, just prove whether you're old-fashioned or not."
The two of us bickered like that as we slowly walked toward the Dormitory. Since we were similar in height, our strides matched as well.
After walking for a while with idle chatter, I suddenly spoke.
"Yoo Gun."
"What?"
"I live in a semi-basement."
"…."
"I didn't know people ordered chicken whenever they felt like it until I came to High School. At our house, we barely ate it once a year, if that. Even when we did order, we'd get one bird and split it among four people."
Another unexpected revelation. Yet to Yoo Gun, it was a strangely familiar face of poverty.
Since he'd never imagined my family circumstances were difficult, Yoo Gun fell silent. I continued walking one step ahead of him as if making a declaration, speaking as though it were nothing.
"Let's make sure we succeed."
At this wish, almost like a prayer, Yoo Gun nodded.
"…Yes."
Hearing Yoo Gun's answer, I smiled broadly with satisfaction. Yoo Gun too offered a refreshing smile in return—the first one since the Survival Program.
"Hey! Ha-jin! Yoo Gun!"
"What, Dan Ha-ru?"
It seemed they were returning from their live, as Ha-ru and Do-ha emerged from the opposite Alley and ran toward us.
As Ha-ru rushed over so violently I instinctively moved to catch him, I stopped when I saw Do-ha already restraining him from behind and me catching him from the front.
"Are you heading to the Dormitory? Where did you go?"
"Finished practice and took a walk with Yoo Gun. How did your live go?"
"Great! The manager said he'd give us a ride, but Do-ha and I ate so much we decided to walk to digest. That's why we came on foot."
"Good call. Lee Do-ha, you did well. So did you get a refund on that egg mayo sandwich without egg mayo?"
"Huh? Did you watch our whole live?"
Watching Ha-ru cling to me and chatter away, I found myself naturally thinking of my own younger siblings back home.
…Maybe I should call home today.
As I watched with that thought in mind, I noticed Do-ha, who'd been beside Ha-ru, had already stepped over to my side.
"…?"
"What did you eat?"
"Huh? Oh, Hyung said he was hungry, so…."
"Your hand looked red, so I wondered if it was blood. Glad it's not."
"Oh."
When Do-ha pointed at Yoo Gun's hand with his eyes, Yoo Gun belatedly checked his own hand. It seemed like ramen broth or sauce had gotten on it when he threw out the trash earlier.
"I must've gotten something on it when I threw out the garbage. It's not blood."
"Then we're good."
At Yoo Gun's response, Do-ha nodded and pulled out a tissue from his pocket, offering it.
"I had extras left over from eating a sandwich earlier, so use this to wipe it off."
"Oh, thanks, Hyung."
Yoo Gun accepted the tissue Do-ha offered. As I was wiping my hands, Ha-ru and Ha-jin, who had gotten far ahead, suddenly turned around and shouted toward us.
"Hey, you two! What are you doing? Hurry up. Si-woo said he'd really kick Tae-hyun out if we're late."
"Yoo Gun Hyung! We need to go! Eun-chan said he'll lock the door if we're late!"
"Yeah, let's go. Come on, Yoo Gun."
"…Okay."
The footsteps of four people embroidered the quiet night street.
It was just heading home, yet somehow my steps felt unusually light.
* * *
Those moments when I trembled with the fear of "Will tomorrow ever come?" now felt like a dream as time flowed swiftly, as if no one could ever catch it.
The scorching summer, when the boys' sweat had drenched every inch of the practice room floor, had completely passed.
And finally…
"Insane. Am I really debuting today?"
The day of Kairos's debut had arrived!

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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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