Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 210

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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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210. CUTE BUT NOT SORRY (2)
The pre-recorded segment proceeded without major issues.
The members were already well-accustomed to broadcast recordings, and most of the staff had participated in at least one Miro Maze broadcast, so they were familiar with the members.
The real problem arose during the fan interaction segment.
“Um… h-have you eaten?”
“I haven’t!”
“Oh no!”
“Just make sure you all eat well—I’m fine!!!!”
“…Ah, yes. I, I see.”
These were fans who had already seen us at the showcase and audience recordings.
But standing on a music broadcast stage where the interaction was far more immediate and direct than before, several members seemed to malfunction.
Eun-chan, who was particularly shy, clung tightly to Do-ha’s side and only offered a bashful wave to the fans—the very picture of a rookie idol.
Even Ha-jin and Tae-hyun, who would normally have salvaged the situation, seemed distracted by thoughts of the MC.
“Kairos, we’re going to adjust the setup and try once more.”
“”Yes!””
As a brief waiting period was given, it was Si-woo—who had been conserving his voice for the live performance—who stepped up as the relief pitcher with the microphone.
“Is anyone coming to the live broadcast later? Ha-jin and Tae-hyun are making their music show MC debut today.”
Si-woo naturally pulled Ha-jin and Tae-hyun, who had been warming up in the back, to the front and patted their shoulders as if entrusting them to the fans.
“They practiced the script hard without even sleeping, so please come to the live broadcast and support them.”
“”Of course!!!””
Ha-jin, dragged out unexpectedly, laughed at Si-woo’s words, clenched his fist, and shouted fighting spirit. Tae-hyun, who had been slightly stiff, also relaxed his expression at the fans’ cheers.
Then Ha-ru, who had been squatting at the center of the stage watching his hyungs bustle about and the fans’ excitement, spoke up cheerfully and confidently.
“That’s right! You absolutely have to come, because Ha-jin hyung’s cape is going to…!”
“Hey, you brat!”
“Ha-ru, this time it’s really not okay…!”
Ha-jin and Tae-hyun, startled by Dan Ha-ru’s unfiltered spoiler, lunged forward with incredible reflexes and subdued him.
And once again, Destiny had already caught all the important keywords.
‘What’s going to happen with Kang Ha-jin’s cape…?’
Destiny members, who had been hesitant about attending the live broadcast due to fatigue, suddenly made up their minds and burned with enthusiasm. As murmurs erupted, Yoo Gun attempted damage control.
“W-anyway, everyone. Later, that thing. Um, warm coffee will be provided, so please make sure to take some….”
The murmurs only grew louder.
“Coffee? What coffee?”
“Is this a reverse sponsorship? Do we have a reverse sponsorship? That’s insane.”
“Whoa. There’s a coffee truck coming, that’s crazy.”
“…No, that’s not what I meant….”
Yoo Gun, who had spoiled the reverse sponsorship while trying to prevent MC outfit spoilers, felt the members’ gazes and closed his mouth. Glancing to the side of the stage, he saw Su-ho monitoring with his arms crossed, pressing his forehead. Then Su-ho simply waved his hand, signaling him to go ahead and speak.
And confirming that signal, Do-ha declared solemnly.
A sound effect of “boom” seemed to echo from nowhere.
“Today, a coffee truck prepared by your families will be arriving. After the pre-recorded segment, you’ll be able to receive it during the mini fan meeting….”
“Mini fan meeting…?”
“Do we have fans?”
“The fan manager told us not to go anywhere after the pre-recording ended.”
“Seriously? From our debut day? This is insane, what is this?”
“….”
In an attempt to prevent spoilers about the MC outfit, then accidentally spoiling the reverse gift-giving, then spoiling the mini fan meeting while trying to cover that up—the situation had spiraled beyond control. All the members fell silent. Off to the side of the stage, Kairos’s staff members and Ji Su-ho hung their heads in despair.
Finally, Si-woo spoke up in a resigned tone to salvage the situation.
“Yes. After today’s pre-recording, we’ll be holding a mini fan meeting. Our members’ families have kindly prepared some light snacks for everyone. We’d appreciate it if you could maintain order while receiving them. Tae-hyun and Ha-jin’s MC outfits later are absolutely adorable, so please spread the word and show them lots of love, okay?”
“”Yes~~!!””
The excited fans cheered, and the members and staff could only laugh. Ha-jin, who had been covering Ha-ru’s mouth with his hand and was now hugging him tightly from behind as a joke, spoke up.
“PD, I think we need to start recording soon. If we keep going like this, we’re going to spoil tomorrow’s content too. This is a disaster.”
“Our content goes up tomorrow…?”
“…?”
At the murmuring response, Ha-jin’s eyes widened. Then Eun-chan, who was still pressed against Do-ha’s side, spoke carefully.
“That’s right, we do have content going up tomorrow. The fans are just joking around, hyung.”
“Wow… these people are seriously good actors?”
“Yes. We’re starting the Kairos recording~”
“Got it.”
Ha-jin wore an aggrieved expression as if he’d been scammed by a friend he trusted, but at the PD’s signal that recording was starting, he quickly nodded and stood up from his seat.
For now, finishing the recording successfully was the priority.
Raising his voice, One, Two, Three!
Si-woo’s sharp high note filled the studio.
Kairos’s pre-recording of 【Kick Off】 was racing toward a successful finish.
* * *
Shuri
@ssury0505
Kairos XX0918 A-Countdown pre-recording review
Kick Off outfit is group varsity!!!!
Each member has their own symbolic number on the back
They said they’ll tell us what it means later
Let’s keep going with the thread.
Shares 57 Likes 23
[Insane, Kairos reverse gift-giving snacks today]
(photo of reverse gift received)
The members’ parents prepared it
There was coffee and non-coffee drinks, and they gave out churros and cookies too
It was seriously delicious
-Wow so jealous…
Is this just a one-time thing? *whimpers* I wanted to get one too…
└I guess so..ㅠㅠ? I think they said it was their first debut broadcast.
Believer gave out nostalgia perfume and chicken deep tea when they were promoting last time lol, and they’re happy even after getting reverse value for money…
└So that’s what “even if you give it to them, they’ll call it trash” means. Now I get it.
└Rookies who haven’t even received their settlement are reverse-gifting to fans because they’re overflowing with love? Are you jealous?
└Go look at the photo of B-liver throwing away the fan letter they received this time and then come write a comment
Cherry Blossom
@ch_blossom
XX0918 A-Countdown Mini Fan Meeting
#Kairos #Jeong Si-u #Lee Do-ha
#Lee Yu-gun #Ju Eun-chan #Dan Ha-ru
Tae-hyun and Ha-jin are changing into
MC outfits on the way~
(Photo of Kairos members at the mini fan meeting in Kick Off outfits)
Shares 2,444 Quotes 32 Likes 2,510
“Hey~”
“Hello!”
“Did everyone get their snacks?”
The members, having already completed one pre-recorded segment, led the mini fan meeting with bright, energetic energy as if the fans were no longer awkward around them.
Behind the members in navy and white varsity jackets, another van approached. It was Tae-hyun and Ha-jin, heading to the waiting room to change into their MC outfits.
Yoo Gun, who had been making eye contact with each fan calling out to him, spoke with a hint of mischief.
“Everyone. When these two get out, you really need to scream loudly. Especially Ha-jin—he’s quite embarrassed right now.”
At that, all cameras and phones swiveled toward the van where Ha-jin and Tae-hyun were exiting.
Soon, the van door opened.
“Hello~”
Tae-hyun, with a monocle on one eye, carefully stepped out of the van while holding the rabbit ears on his head with his hand. His beige checkered three-piece suit and shorts evoked the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. A black bow tie at the collar of his snugly buttoned shirt added to the cuteness.
“Aw, so cute!”
“Tae-hyun! Tae-hyun, look over here!”
“Wow, the reaction is intense.”
“When Ha-jin comes out, you guys are really going to faint, right?”
“Today’s costume concept is fairy tale characters. You can probably guess what Tae-hyun is, right?”
Tae-hyun laughed somewhat sheepishly at the members’ teasing.
And then, Ha-jin stepped out of the van.
“Oh my god.”
Everyone burst into laughter at someone’s exclamation, as if they all agreed. Cute screams erupted from various spots.
Ha-jin, dressed in black shorts, a white shirt, and a black knit vest, wore a red ribbon around his neck. Not only that, but a red cape with fluffy white fur hung from his shoulders, and a radiant flower crown was densely pinned to his head with bobby pins.
Stepping out of the van and taking in all the gazes directed at him, Ha-jin spoke with fresh composure.
“…Hello. I’m the boy in the red cape.”
If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.
If you can’t enjoy it, check your bank balance.
You’ll do anything to put food on the table.
Recalling his life motto, Ha-jin laughed as he swirled his cape dramatically.
* * *
“Ha-won. Didn’t your brother say he was appearing today?”
“Oh, yeah. Just a moment.”
With the entrance exams drawing near, Ha-won’s heart had been restless lately, so he’d returned home earlier than usual today. Normally, he would have rushed straight to the academy the moment school ended, but his physical condition wasn’t great today.
Upon arriving home, Ha-won realized that today was his brother’s debut on a music broadcast. When his mother asked, he headed to the master bedroom. Since their home was small and lacked a television, he had to use the computer in his parents’ room to stream the broadcast featuring his brother.
“Oh, but Mom.”
“Hmm?”
“Did you send any snacks or anything like that to my brother’s fans?”
As Ha-won logged into the OTT service streaming the music broadcast, he suddenly recalled the conversation he’d overheard from the girls at school today and asked his mother.
Though their family finances had improved somewhat as Father gradually established himself at work, sending snacks to fans would still cost quite a bit of money.
Ha-won, who had matured beyond his years due to various circumstances, found himself worrying first whenever he heard such stories.
Young-in smiled and shook her head.
“Oh, no. That was actually something Eun-chan’s older brother did.”
“Ju… Ju Eun-chan?”
“Yes. He contacted me separately. He said he wanted to do something like that, but if he prepared it alone, it might cause unnecessary attention, so he asked if it would be okay to do it together with the other members’ families.”
“What does that person do? He must be quite wealthy.”
“I think he runs some kind of company, but I didn’t ask for details. So I suggested that the other parents should contribute as well, but he refused. He insisted it was fine. He was so adamant about it that I just thanked him and left it at that.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
Young-in slowly recalled the conversation from that time and continued.
“Instead, he asked me to look after Eun-chan well. I told him not to worry. From what I gathered, either his parents aren’t around or he’s cut ties with them… In any case, it seems Eun-chan doesn’t receive much support from his parents.”
“Really? He seems to come from a very wealthy family…”
“I don’t know. Anyway, his older brother is acting as his guardian, but since he can’t look after him as carefully as parents would, he asked if I could help with that. I told him I would take care of Eun-chan like he was my own son.”
After hearing his mother’s words, Ha-won nodded quietly.
When he’d heard about this Eun-chan from his brother before, it sounded like he came from an extremely wealthy family.
It seemed that even families like that had their own complicated circumstances and stories.
“Son, it’s starting. When does your brother come on?”
“Who knows. I don’t really watch these things…”
The live broadcast of the music show began. A solo artist Ha-won didn’t recognize performed, and then the MC Seok-i appeared on screen with the A-Countdown logo.
And then, his brother appeared on the broadcast much sooner than expected.
-Hello! A-Countdown viewers!
-We’re here today to take over A-Countdown as fairies from a fairy tale kingdom! The White Rabbit with a clock!
-And Little Red Riding Hood!☆
“…”
“…”
“…Is that Ha-jin?”
“…Seems like it?”
Watching his brother in a red ribbon, red cape, and a flower perched on his head, poking his own cheek with his finger, Ha-won let the phone in his hand slip and drop.
“…Mom.”
“Hmm?”
“…I’m going to work hard on my entrance exams.”
Earning money really isn’t easy.
Ha-won found himself confronted once again by the harsh indifference of reality.

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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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