Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 212

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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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212. My Stage
“Hyung, I’m sorry. I got too excited earlier and….”
The moment I stepped down from the stage, I hurriedly apologized to Si-woo.
It was a melody I’d unconsciously changed whenever I got excited, but in my overwhelming enthusiasm, I’d overdone it on stage. If Si-woo hadn’t handled it so well, there could have been unwanted comments.
So I’d grabbed Si-woo to apologize before even changing clothes, but Jeong Si-u—the one who should have been receiving the apology—just tilted his head with a refreshed expression full of question marks.
“What?”
“Huh? Oh, when I changed the note at the end earlier….”
“Oh, that?”
Jeong Si-u pulled out his in-ear monitor and loosened the corset that had been pressing uncomfortably against his chest, then smiled as if it were nothing.
“It’s fine. I enjoyed it too.”
Then he gave my chest a light punch as if to say “good work” and walked past.
I forgot all about needing to change clothes quickly, clutching my chest where he’d struck me with one hand while covering my mouth with the other.
“Shin…?”
[System Alert: If moe-fication reaches this level, it’s a disease….]
[System Alert: The system clicks its tongue, saying there’s no cure for this.]
You don’t even have a tongue.
When I shot back at Thirteen for teasing me, Thirteen wailed that this was an insult to the time manager.
Regardless, I stuck my tongue out slightly and made a quick raspberry, then turned around sharply with the notification block function activated for the first time in a while.
That’s when someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
“…Huh?”
“Kang Ha-jin, are you insane!? Why aren’t you coming faster!!?”
“Mom, our little frog’s lost his mind.”
It was Seo Tae-hyun, who’d already changed into his lower outfit and even equipped a monocle despite barely any time passing since the stage ended. The tenderness from earlier had vanished without a trace, and Tae-hyun, now armed with his “professional idol’s mind obsessed with success,” grabbed my arm and dragged me along.
As I was pulled helplessly by Tae-hyun, I turned my head to gaze at the stage visible between the backstage stairs.
While the VCR played, several staff members were moving up and down the stage to set up for the next performance, and the LED that had been made for Kairos’s stage had been changed for another team.
“What are you doing? What are you looking at?”
“…Never mind, let’s go.”
My stage—the one I’d prepared so hard for—had vanished in less than a minute.
Since I’d experienced stages through multiple routes even in my previous life, I wasn’t disappointed or upset about it.
I just felt a small desire bloom—a wish that it could have lasted a little longer.
[System Alert: …You enjoyed it that much?]
Thirteen, who’d unblocked notifications and crept back up with a crumpled expression, asked slyly. I overtook Tae-hyun, who was leading the way to the waiting room, in just a few steps and ran ahead while answering.
‘Why are you asking the obvious? Stop it.’
The longing for “my stage” that I’d buried for so long was slowly rising to the surface.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work—!”
With the first-place award for a second-year senior idol who’d been getting decent responses overseas lately, Kairos’s first music broadcast recording came to an end.
Kairos’s debut performance wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t enough to claim first place just four days after the music release.
Ji Su-ho applauded the members as they came down from the ending, offering encouragement.
“Next time, let’s be the last ones to come down.”
Knowing full well that a first-place win meant performing an encore stage, the members nodded without a hint of disappointment, choosing instead to savor the sweet fruit of their debut performance.
Even though they’d have to rush to prepare for the next Music Broadcast Studio appearance in just a few hours.
“Everyone, I know you’re exhausted, but don’t change out of your outfits yet. We should go greet our Main PD.”
The world had changed considerably, and people said the old culture of standing in a line in the Hallway waiting for the Main PD to emerge from the Assistant Director’s Room had largely disappeared.
But honestly, as a rookie idol desperate for every opportunity, there was no way to pass up a chance to make an impression on someone of the Main PD’s stature—especially one who would be the supervisor for regular staff assignments going forward.
“Hello, PD. Thank you for your hard work today. We came to greet you.”
“Ah! Oh, Manager. No wait, you’re the Executive Director now, aren’t you? I don’t know why I keep mixing that up.”
Because so many other teams were waiting to greet the Main PD, it was quite some time after the Music Broadcast Studio ended before Kairos finally got their turn with A-Countdown’s Main PD.
The PD who appeared holding a tablet in one hand and a cup of mixed coffee in the other was a mild-mannered middle-aged man Ha-jin had seen frequently during his work.
After exchanging a warm handshake with Ji Su-ho, the PD’s gaze turned toward the members. At Ji Su-ho’s signal, they all bowed in unison.
“Hello, we’re Kairos! We look forward to working with you!”
“Wow, listen to those voices. You rookies have such tight discipline. Your MC work and stage today were great, really great~”
“Thank you!”
At their spirited response, the chuckling PD gave a thumbs up while looking at Tae-hyun and Ha-jin, who had been today’s MCs.
“Especially our MCs. You two pull it off so smoothly—our writers were absolutely raving about you. Hey, Tae-hyun, you’re still doing great, aren’t you? You were always so diligent with this kind of work back at Boy’s Supremacy.”
“Ah… thank you, PD. I’ll work hard.”
Tae-hyun bowed with an excited expression at the praise. From the context, it seemed the PD had been part of the production team during Boy’s Supremacy, and they clearly had a good relationship—Tae-hyun seemed genuinely pleased to see him.
“That’s right. Let’s do well together from now on. …I’m happy you debuted, kid.”
Despite the age gap being roughly that of a parent and child, in this industry everyone was either a hyung or a senior, so there was nothing awkward about the PD referring to himself that way.
What bothered me more was the subtle flicker that crossed the PD’s face.
‘…What was that just now?’
It seemed like more than just the bittersweet feeling of watching a trainee he’d supported back at Boy’s Supremacy finally debut.
But the emotion had passed too quickly for me to analyze it, so I let the thought go. I needed to break the habit of trying to read too much into everything.
“Oh, and! Our Red Cape Thirteen!”
“Good grief…”
Since the PD hadn’t yet memorized Ha-jin’s real name, he called him by his MC nickname instead, drawing an involuntary sigh from Ha-jin. The sound was too quiet for the PD to hear, but the members around him had to bite their tongues to keep from laughing.
“I’m Kang Ha-jin from Kairos, PD.”
“Right, right. Of course. Your performance today was killer, by the way.”
“Haha… I did my best.”
“So, would you be interested in doing this for a few more weeks? As a special MC?”
“…Pardon?”
Ha-jin’s head snapped up in bewilderment at the sudden job offer. The PD grinned broadly and patted Ha-jin’s shoulder while explaining the situation.
“Well, our two existing MCs recently mentioned they need to adjust their schedules. But watching you two today, you and Tae-hyun have such great chemistry, you know? The visuals work too. Our producer Wang suggested we give you a shot. Haha!”
I’d come here as a rookie full of confidence, only to create a dark history—and now the door to regularly creating dark histories had swung wide open.
While I was torn between being happy about landing a job and dreading what outrageous concept they’d throw at me next, Ji Su-ho smoothly stepped in and wrapped up the conversation.
“We’d be grateful for the opportunity, PD. Just contact me about the details and we’ll work out the schedule.”
“Yes, yes. Our second assistant will probably reach out. Well, I’ll be going then~”
“Yes. Have a good night, PD!”
“Goodbye!”
“See you~”
The Main PD patted Ha-jin’s shoulder once more before disappearing down the hallway. As his figure vanished beyond the corner, Tae-hyun approached quietly and grabbed Ha-jin’s shoulder with a grin spreading across his face.
“What do we do, Jinnie? Looks like we’ll be together with Hyun a few more weeks~?”
“…ribbit….”
“We should ask the Writer to make the script as cringey as possible. Get a taste of it, Kang Ha-jin.”
“ribbit ribbit….”
Did I like this or not?
I pressed my forehead with my palm, unable to cry or laugh.
* * *
Without even time to celebrate the new job, a hectic schedule followed relentlessly.
The very next day, most of the members who attended the music broadcast at the neighboring station were dozing off in a daze, barely able to keep their eyes open. The pre-recording had been scheduled for the early morning hours because the schedule had gotten tangled up.
Dressed in the fantasy version costume of “Over The Night” for today’s pre-recording, I flopped down onto the straw mat spread across the waiting room floor. Then I jabbed Eun-chan, who was already half-asleep in the spot next to me, with my elbow.
“Hey. Is your hyung doing that again today?”
“…huh?”
“Is he sending snacks again today?”
Of course, the members already knew that yesterday’s snack delivery had been arranged by Eun-chan’s older brother. When they first heard about it through Eun-chan, there had been some initial skepticism about how that could even be possible. But after Eun-seok’s request to think of it as a debut gift and the company’s persuasion, they’d all come to accept it to some degree.
‘…Truth is, half of us aren’t in a position to expect such things from our parents anyway.’
Setting aside Lee Yu-gun, who had no parents at all and was the sole breadwinner of his household, more than half of the members’ parents hadn’t even shown up for the final broadcast. Eventually, they’d decided that once they started earning money later, they’d pool their resources and give Eun-seok a nice gift in return.
‘Wait. Now that I think about it, how do Dan Ha-ru’s parents exist right now? Do they only have a setting, or are they actual people?’
As I turned my head and watched Ha-ru dozing off while leaning against Do-ha on the other side, lost in thought, Eun-chan, who had been in a daze, curled his body toward me and mumbled in his sleep.
“I’m cold….”
“…Just sleep.”
I clicked my tongue and fetched a blanket that was lying around, carefully draping it over Eun-chan.
Looking around the waiting room, the other members seemed to be in similar states, so I turned my attention to Kwon Wook, the manager who was handling work on his phone in the corner. Unable to contain my curiosity, I picked up my own phone and accessed Bluebird.
“Hyung. Do we have that today too? Like a reverse gift?”
“Oh, today? Yeah, yeah, we do.”
“We do? Is it Eun-seok hyung again?”
“No? Today it’s not Eun-chan hyung, it’s….”
While the manager paused to check something, my Bluebird timeline scrolled across the screen. After refreshing to update the latest news, the first mention that appeared was this.
Kang Ha-di
@kang_HD
…?
Hey guys today’s Kairos reverse gift
from Seo Tae-il sbn apparently
what is this
(Reverse gift box with text reading ‘Your mentor treats!’)
Huh? Who?
“…Oh, it’s Tae-il’s turn today. I heard Tae-il prepared some snack boxes or something. He said it was a debut congratulations gift for you guys?”
I shot up from the mat without thinking and slowly scrolled through my phone as I listened to Kwon Wook’s explanation.
In the photos the fans had posted, the reverse gift box contained small juice bottles, chicken gift certificates, mini perfume from the brand Seo Tae-il advertised, and even homemade cookies.
A retweet of some quote from Idea that someone had shared was even more remarkable.
Tallam
@txllam
Our leader…
Held back a bit so the younger members wouldn’t be shocked…
(Verification photo of reverse sponsorship received during Upia’s comeback)
Shares 436 Retweets 889 Likes 4,209
That’s holding back?
The reverse sponsorship photo posted by Idea was overflowing with all sorts of luxurious snacks and gifts. When Ha-jin saw the photo even included exchange vouchers for Upia’s advertising brand merchandise, his jaw dropped.
‘Just how much money do these guys make?’
Is this what the life of a successful 13-year veteran professional idol looks like?
Back in college, Kang Ha-jin had trembled over transportation fees and phone bills, so this incomprehensible level of spending didn’t feel real to him. He was also amazed by Seo Tae-il’s mindset—casually throwing down such a massive expenditure for his junior’s debut.
…Separate from his gratitude toward him.
‘I want to make a lot of money and do things like this too.’
Just as I was thinking that, Manager Kwon Wook added a comment.
“Ah. Tomorrow it’s the Endway kids who prepared something?”
“…What?”
“The hyungs are doing it, so they said they can’t lose either… Anyway, it’s a tradition. A Miro tradition. …Though I’m not sure if you can call it a tradition when there are only three groups.”
“…”
“The Executive Director apparently had a hard time stopping the members from taking turns doing it. In the end, the company decided to do it one more time too. And that’s supposedly from the CEO’s personal funds?”
Why do these wealthy seniors burn with competitive spirit over their junior’s debut stage reverse sponsorship like this…?
Gradually, Upia and Endway, along with CEO Han Se-won, were starting to look like parents handing out hamburgers to the entire class on their youngest late-born child’s elementary school entrance ceremony day.
‘I need to live diligently.’
I need to live hard and practice the young, rich, tall, and handsome lifestyle.
For that, Ha-jin was confident he could wear that red cape two thousand more times.
And,
“Ha-jin, hey! Could you wear this just once and look over there for me!?”
That opportunity came much faster than Ha-jin expected.
…And there were a lot of them.

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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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