Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 268

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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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268. The Snowball of Fortune (1)
I wasn’t nervous at all.
‘Me? Nervous? Over some news about being a contender for first place? No way.’
“Ha-jin, were you very nervous?”
“Yes… wait? No? Yes? Me? You mean…? What did you say?”
“You seem off today…”
Let me say it again: I wasn’t nervous in the slightest.
Sure, I almost botched my lines about five times,
and nearly messed up the name of that legendary senior group twice,
and almost introduced the song backwards,
but I pulled myself together and didn’t actually mess up, so there’s no way I’d be this nervous just over being a contender for first place, not even first place itself…
‘Damn. I really want to get first place.’
In a moment of carelessness, the desperate desire I’d been suppressing came bursting out.
Truth was, ever since we found out we were a contender for first place, I hadn’t been in my right mind.
‘I mean, didn’t I expect this? Wasn’t I mentally prepared for it? Why am I freaking out like this? At this rate I’m going to cause a broadcast incident.’
But seriously I really want first place please I’m being sincere for real.
If we get first place on a day like today, it’d be absolutely incredible.
And I dressed really well today too.
If I could deliver an amazing acceptance speech in this outfit, it’d probably trend on shorts too.
Once I started hoping, the swelling anticipation became impossible to suppress.
Because it really felt like we were going to win first place.
“Alright, we’re moving into the next interview segment. MCs, stay focused!”
But the problem was that this wasn’t the time to be lost in such excitement.
At the sudden cue, I snapped to attention and pinched my thigh. As a professional, I couldn’t afford any more mistakes.
“Hello! Thank you for having us. We’re Lanion.”
“Yes, hello~ Let’s just do this comfortably like we rehearsed!”
And on top of everything, our interview partner was Lanion, who was about to take the stage for their debut.
We’d already locked in our concept to compete against them—#senior vibes #older brother charm #legal adult appeal—so if I did something stupid during the interview, that would be a disaster in its own right.
“Yes, we’ll get Lanion’s seats ready quickly. The song’s almost over. Five, four, three…”
Lanion filed into the MC seats in a line and took their positions—and just as I’d seen and heard before, they were all handsome. When my eyes briefly met those of Cha Min-seok, who confidently held the center position, we both naturally looked away.
Soon the red light indicating live broadcast flickered on the camera.
As if I’d never been nervous, I delivered my lines in a natural, composed voice.
“A one-sided love epic that sets fans’ hearts aflutter! We’re here with Lanion, who is taking their first debut stage with ‘Let You Know.’ Welcome!”
“Yes, we’ll introduce ourselves! Hello! We’re Lanion!”
First things first, that was it.
* * *
The interview went smoothly without any major mistakes or incidents.
Lanion read off the song introductions and group name from the prompter clearly and precisely.
The only problem arose when I asked the group’s main vocalist to sing a short section of the chorus.
“Ah…”
Whether it was Jung-hyuk or Jung-hyun—one of the members who claimed to be around my age—their eyes trembled with anxiety. They kept opening and closing their grip on the microphone, clearly so nervous their mind had gone blank. Normally, the other members would whisper encouragement from beside them, but everyone else was equally stiff with tension, as if they couldn’t even see the person next to them.
‘If he freezes up here, it’ll be a broadcast accident.’
While such mishaps might look cute to Lanion fans, they were endlessly burdensome to the MC—something I desperately hoped wouldn’t happen.
I had no choice but to quickly bring the microphone to my lips and speak.
“Or would you like to show us the point choreography all at once? I’ve heard the ribbon dance is very easy to follow, and the movements are quite beautiful. Isn’t that right, Cha Min-seok?”
“…Ah, yes. I’ll show you the point choreography.”
I figured Cha Min-seok was the one keeping his wits about him the most, so I deliberately caught his eye and addressed him. Cha Min-seok nodded at my words and stepped forward.
In that moment, the Lanion lead vocalist seemed to regain some composure, immediately belting out their point section with a trembling voice.
‘…These guys sing well too, damn it.’
Though they seemed to have tensed their throat too much from nervousness, their tone was fundamentally unique and sweet. Cha Min-seok’s dancing ability as he performed the point choreography was also respectable. And that was what annoyed me most.
“Well then, we’ll catch Lanion’s debut stage a bit later. Now let’s meet the new song from singer-songwriter Jin Sa-ra, who sings of love with a compelling voice. ‘Love… Still.'”
After finishing the closing remarks to transition to the stage, I handed the cue cards and microphone to the FD waiting beside me the moment the camera’s red light went out, then headed back to the waiting room.
The Lanion members also had overlapping movements as they briefly greeted the MCs and camera directors before leaving the stage to prepare.
Not paying particular attention, I was heading back to the waiting room with our manager when, blocked by the crowd at the doorway for a moment, I noticed Cha Min-seok approaching me from behind again.
“….”
“…?”
He didn’t say anything, just watched me with an expression full of things to say. I shot him a look asking what he wanted. Then Cha Min-seok stammered with his lips a few times like he had at the salon, before quickly slipping away into the gap where his members were.
‘Why is he like that?’
It was behavior I didn’t understand, but I didn’t particularly want to understand it either.
I quickly turned and hurried back to our waiting room at almost a run.
Since our stage was coming up soon, I needed to change clothes and touch up my makeup quickly. At least there was less to change than the last time with the red cloak, so that was a relief.
“Hey, hyung. You’re here? Change clothes quickly.”
“Hyung! We’re here too! I almost cried on the way here….”
As I entered the waiting room, loosening the deliberately tight necktie, I saw the members scattered around in today’s outfits. Ju Eun-chan and Dan Ha-ru, who hadn’t arrived until just before the broadcast started, were waving their hands excitedly to greet me.
I was glad to see them, but I had to change clothes before I could even return their greeting.
“…? Why is everyone staring so intently?”
A moment later, after finishing styling in a corner of the waiting room, I saw that all the members and staff were watching the live broadcast monitor. I wondered who had come on, but the melody that reached my ears was annoyingly familiar.
I just wanna let you know
My heart—,
I’ll give it to you
On the screen, the Lanion members—so different from those creaky boys from earlier—were sparkling and full of energy, showing off all their charm with flawless broadcast makeup.
Rather than intense group formations or performances, they used flowing, soft dance lines while maintaining the song’s rhythm perfectly. Since it was a song that openly aimed for mass appeal, it felt distinctly different from our group’s songs with their high notes, ad-libs, and punchy beats.
Easy-listening pop—comfortable to sing and comfortable to listen to.
With so much English in the lyrics compared to Korean, you couldn’t understand it without subtitles.
I wondered what everyone was thinking as they watched that group’s stage.
With that thought, I quietly approached Seo Tae-hyun, who must be the most unsettled right now, and he quietly opened his mouth while still staring silently at the monitor.
“…Just so you know, I’m not thinking anything.”
“…Do you also read minds?”
“I’m just curious how they do it. The song is good too.”
Was I the only one who found Seo Tae-hyun’s candid attitude increasingly frightening?
Uneasy, I hugged the cushion and let my legs dangle, when Lee Yu-gun standing beside me tapped my leg.
“Hyung. You’re bringing bad luck.”
“You really do sound like Grandpa every time you do that.”
“But you said Grandpa is you.”
“Exactly. I’m the old man here, so why do you keep saying stuff like that? You’re threatening my character.”
As I rambled on nonsense to shift the mood, Seo Tae-hyun tore his gaze from the monitor as if he’d seen enough, then stood up from his seat.
The other members pretended not to notice, but I could feel from a distance that most eyes were fixed on Seo Tae-hyun’s movements.
The reason it was “most” and not “all” was because Ju Eun-chan had shown no interest in other groups’ stages from the start and was just practicing our song instead,
and Lee Do-ha seemed to be monitoring other groups as his purpose, so he kept staring at the monitor regardless of whether Seo Tae-hyun moved or not.
Anyway, Seo Tae-hyun, receiving the gazes of the majority, shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a casual tone.
“Just… I was thinking about what it would’ve been like if I debuted with him.”
“…”
“But I guess we weren’t destined to debut together after all.”
Then Seo Tae-hyun turned off the monitor with the remote, and with that “refreshing smile” that once made all the noona fans nationwide into Cherry Boy devotees, he spoke with a sense of relief.
“Our group is way cooler. Our song is better too.”
Lee Do-ha, who had looked shocked for a moment when the monitor turned off while he was diligently monitoring, relaxed his expression at Seo Tae-hyun’s words about the song being better.
Whether Cha Min-seok still harbored lingering regrets or not, it was clear that our group Cherry Boy had truly moved beyond where we were three years ago, and I felt proud of everyone.
‘Times like this make it even more important that we take first place.’
Unlike back when B-liver was obsessed with crushing the buzz as mere revenge, this time I wanted to do it for us.
Unlike “Shout at You,” with our own song and our own stage, the thought that we could now present ourselves as first-place contenders under our group’s name…
made my heart race a little.
Just then, Ji Su-ho came back in after finishing a call outside and spoke to us.
“Hey guys, let’s get ready to go on stage now. Oh, and… you’re first-place contenders today. Do your best.”
“…First place?”
At Ji Su-ho’s words, which beat me to the punch, excitement bloomed across the members’ faces.
“Yeah. I checked out the other contenders, and it looks like you guys have a pretty high chance. I was originally going to surprise you, but since you all worked hard today, I’m telling you early to put you in a good mood. Let’s go out there and do well, yeah?”
“Yes!”
“Alright, let’s hurry. We’re running out of time.”
With a gesture to move quickly, we left the waiting room with bright smiles on our faces.
Though we were still young in our careers, our stage order was quite late due to MC privileges and schedule adjustments, so it seemed like after we finished performing, we’d wait in the nearby hallway and then head straight to watch the ending before leaving.
‘When I come back to the waiting room, please, please… let me come back with the trophy.’
Praying earnestly with all my faith, I moved to the studio with my arm firmly linked around Seo Tae-hyun’s shoulder.
* * *
Yoon Jae-hee, who had been idly waiting for Kairos’s turn ever since Ha-jin returned to the waiting room to prepare for his stage, excitedly fanned herself with the fan she’d brought at the news that Kairos was finally next.
Desty, sitting next to her and having grown close while chatting while waiting for the stage, leaned in and whispered.
“What do you think the guys will wear today? There’s been no spoilers today…”
“I’d love it if they wore suits. I really loved what Ha-jin wore as his MC outfit earlier. If he performs in those glasses, I’m seriously just going to die today.”
“Right? There should be at least one day where all the guys come out wearing glasses.”
The two, whispering brief fangirl comments, stopped talking as the cheers grew louder.
As Yoon Jae-hee quickly turned her gaze, she could see the Kairos members in the waiting area next to the stage! Normally they put up dividers so you can’t see well, but because of that, only the eyes and eyebrows of the tall members over 180 centimeters were barely visible.
‘What could it be? Please, let Ha-jin keep his natural black hair….’
Would Jae-hee’s wish—as fervent as Ha-jin’s desire for first place—actually come true?
Soon, the members of Kairos climbed onto the stage.
Jae-hee, watching Ha-jin take the stage first and greet the fans, let out an involuntary cry.
‘Oh, this is insane!’
The black natural hair, black glasses, and white shirt were identical to what she’d seen earlier, but Ha-jin stood before them grinning, now dressed in a purple necktie and navy jacket, gray pants, black canvas shoes, and a black messenger bag draped loosely across his body!
‘Where did the Ha-jin I saw earlier go!?’
They were really serving both suited Ha-jin and high school Ha-jin in one sitting?
These crazy guys….
This was undoubtedly Jae-hee’s last K-pop moment.

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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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