Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 292

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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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292. A Boy’s Winter (3)
The final schedule of the year was MBS’s Year-End Music Awards.
“Alright, everyone.”
December 31st.
Today, the last day of the year, was also Ha-ru’s birthday.
“You all remember the plan, right?”
Celebrating our youngest member’s birthday on the year-end stage?
If we let this slip by, we’d be the Minotaur, not Kairos.
While Su-ho and a Staff Member deliberately called Ha-ru away under the pretense of behind-the-scenes filming, I explained today’s operation once more to the members gathered in a circle in the Waiting Room and the choreography team.
“After the dance break, the glitter center pops out, the song stops on cue, then Seong-gil hyung and Jae-won unfurl the banner, Eun-chan receives the cake and brings it out, and the rest of you form the large formation like we practiced, understood?”
The plan was simple.
We’d simply inserted a surprise birthday celebration in the middle of the stage without Ha-ru knowing.
The crucial parts were ‘without knowing’ and ‘surprise.’
Just how secretive were we being? To keep this plan hidden, we’d already thrown Ha-ru a birthday party yesterday. We didn’t want him thinking something was wrong if we didn’t do anything.
“If we threw a birthday party as a smokescreen to hide the birthday party, doesn’t that just make him someone who had two birthday parties?”
Yoo Gun muttered in a tone of utter bewilderment, but I brushed it off lightly.
Ah, come on. That’s not what matters right now, okay?
“Alright, does anyone have questions about today’s operation?”
“Hyung. Me.”
“Yeah, Chan.”
Eun-chan, who’d raised his hand eagerly, asked with his eyes sparkling bright.
“What about this part that says ‘Destiny joins too’?”
Eun-chan held up his phone, pointing to a section of the ‘Ha-ru’s Birthday Surprise Operation Plan’ I’d posted in our group chat (naturally without Ha-ru) for Ha-ru’s birthday celebration.
Looking at the line that read 【Mention: ‘Happy birthday, Ha-ru!’ (Destiny joins too)】, I gave a light shrug.
“Oh, I’ve already taken care of that.”
“How?”
“When we check attendance for the fans coming to the Concert Venue today, we’ll hand out slogan cards with the event explanation. They’re getting snacks and hand warmers anyway.”
“…Hyung, are you perhaps in the event business?”
“I’m planning to start one when I make a lot of money later. Even I think this is talent. Alright, the glitter should be arriving soon, so let’s all disperse.”
After cracking a few jokes and clapping a couple of times, people murmured among themselves and returned to their positions. As I watched Ha-ru return with Su-ho, I let out a quiet laugh, and Si-woo, sitting beside me, whispered in a tone of surprise and asked softly.
“Is it because he’s the youngest? You seem to really care about Ha-ru’s birthday. I knew you liked taking care of these things, Ha-jin, but still.”
“Well… it’s not really because he’s the youngest.”
I paused to consider my answer, gazing at Ha-ru’s round head of hair as he sat in front of the makeup mirror for his hair styling.
Ha-ru, whose eyes met mine through the mirror, looked at me and soon scrunched his features into a silly expression to make me laugh. In that image of Ha-ru, the shy, timid boy who’d shouted about the Vending Machine when we first met was nowhere to be found anymore.
I sent Ha-ru, who was still making all sorts of ridiculous faces trying to make me laugh, a look telling him to cut it out, and answered Si-woo in a calm, settled voice.
“…Isn’t receiving birthday wishes from someone the best feeling? It’s the feeling of having your very existence celebrated.”
“I suppose. You’re right. It’s the most fundamental meaning—celebrating that I was born.”
“Since they’re celebrating anyway, it’s nice when they make a big deal out of it, spreading the word all around.”
Ha-ru’s twenty-sixth birthday had been painfully lonely, he’d said.
It would take a very long time before I could celebrate his twenty-seventh birthday with him, but at least I wanted to make sure his seventeenth birthday remained a happy memory.
“I’m someone who is truly grateful that Ha-ru was born and has lived healthily until now.”
Regardless of how it happened, I was someone living a new timeline because of Ha-ru’s regression.
So this was like a debt I was repaying to Sparkle.
Hearing my answer, Si-woo let out a scoff as if dumbfounded and spoke.
“Ha-jin, did you know you sometimes sound like Ha-ru’s father?”
“I am a father, aren’t I? I already have two grandchildren.”
“The family tree is going to be seriously tangled….”
“What will you do, hyung? Since the family tree is already ruined, let’s tangle it up properly.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Along with the trivial conversation, soft laughter spread throughout the Waiting Room. I closed my eyes and mentally replayed today’s event.
* * *
‘Today feels… surprisingly good.’
Even as Ha-ru’s stamina and condition reached their limits from the relentless year-end performances, he felt strangely energized.
‘Is it because of my birthday?’
But birthdays had never been particularly moving occasions for him.
Actually, I couldn’t even remember how I’d celebrated birthdays before. I do recall Grandmother occasionally calling to wish me a happy birthday….
‘Still, yesterday’s birthday party was fun.’
Since it was the busiest time of the year-end season, yesterday’s birthday party took place in the Practice Room rather than the Dormitory.
While I was practicing diligently, the lights suddenly went out, and then Si-woo approached me from one side with a cake topped with candles, as if it were the most natural thing in the world—the image was still vivid.
Surrounded by my hyungs, the choreography team dancers, and Staff Members, I received birthday wishes and an armful of gifts yesterday—a memory that felt like it wouldn’t fade easily in the future.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t that the first time? Receiving a birthday celebration like that.’
Ha-ru didn’t miss a single movement of the choreography instinctively etched into his body, and even in those brief moments, when the red light of the camera passed in front of me, I made eye contact and smiled brightly. Yet my mind was filled with thoughts.
Had there ever been another day when so many people genuinely celebrated my birthday?
Ha-ru reflected on his short life, but he couldn’t recall any other special birthday besides yesterday.
No, it wasn’t just that he couldn’t remember—he had no memories of it at all.
‘How did I spend my birthdays before?’
Something felt strange, but it was only momentary.
Soon, Ha-ru, who quickly forgot what he’d been thinking about, brightened his eyes again and moved forward. The newly added dance break had unusually many positional transitions.
Moving to his position and performing retro-style tectonic movements with the dancers, Ha-ru still didn’t stop thinking.
‘Lately…. I keep forgetting things.’
No, it feels like I’m remembering too much.
No, it feels like certain moments keep repeating.
No, honestly, I’m not sure.
While I felt that something was strange, I couldn’t grasp what it was. From some point on, I began to notice that my hyungs’ memories and my memories were slightly different, and sometimes memories of events I had no recollection of would surface.
Ha-ru knew it was strange, yet whenever he turned away, he would forget that strange sensation again.
Just like Grandmother used to say—when your thoughts become too much, stop thinking.
-It’s okay.
The strangest part was this.
This voice in my heart that I couldn’t quite express.
Whenever Ha-ru sank deep into thought, whenever many things tangled together in the depths of his heart and created a mess, there appeared a certain resonance, as if to soothe him.
Nothing will harm you. There is no danger here.
Perhaps because it was the voice of his own heart, that voice always carried warmth within it.
And whenever he heard that voice, Dan Ha-ru would forget so much again, able to focus only on the happiness of today.
It was the same now.
“…?”
When he came to his senses after hearing some comfort telling him it was alright, Dan Ha-ru found himself standing alone in the center of the stage. According to how they’d practiced, the chorus accompaniment of the song transposed half a key should have been playing through his in-ear monitor by now, but no sound was coming through.
‘What’s this? A broadcast accident?’
Startled, he looked around, and saw the smiling faces of his fellow members and the dancers gathered in a circle around him.
Then, with a flutter—a sound like wind—he felt something massive being erected behind him. Confused, Dan Ha-ru removed one of his in-ear monitors to understand what was happening, and a tremendous roar and sense of presence washed over him like a tide.
“What is this…?”
Please everyone focus, it’s our maknae’s birthday
Kairos sunshine maknae Dan Ha-ru, happy birthday
As he quickly scanned the text on the banner with his face plastered across it, the paused music began flowing again. But the song that played was not the original track—it was a birthday song arranged in a carol style.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Then his hyungs all began singing the birthday song together. Though it was arranged in a slightly faster tempo due to time constraints, it was a high-quality birthday celebration with Tae-hyun providing the low harmony and Si-woo providing the high harmony.
Dan Ha-ru could only stand there in stunned silence, watching the scene unfold. He was so shocked that he couldn’t even laugh—instead, he inexplicably got the hiccups.
Worried the hiccups might be picked up by the microphone, he stood there foolishly with his hand over his mouth, when he saw Eun-chan approaching him from the opposite side, holding a birthday cake model with fake candles on it.
As Eun-chan reached him, he felt Ha-jin, who had positioned himself beside him, call out loudly to the audience: “One, two!”
Ha-ru, happy birthday!
So many voices reached Dan Ha-ru’s ears with perfect clarity.
Dan Ha-ru suddenly lifted his head and looked beyond the audience seating filled with countless lights. Those white lights and yellow banners fluttering in the breeze—that must be where his fans were sitting. It was fortunate that the indoor concert hall wasn’t too large, so the audience seating was clearly visible.
“Blow out the candles quickly.”
Ha-jin, standing beside him, deliberately held his hand microphone away as he whispered quietly into Ha-ru’s ear.
Only then did Dan Ha-ru come to his senses.
‘Ah, so this was a surprise to celebrate my birthday.’
Had anyone ever been so happy about his birthday before?
Dan Ha-ru still couldn’t remember clearly.
From within those hazy memories, only the fact that his winters had always been cold and lonely seemed to surface dimly. Even though he was certain that in his memories, he was someone who had grown up loved and without want.
“Ah….”
And so in that moment.
In that brief moment.
Right before he blew out the beautiful flames in front of him.
Dan Ha-ru saw a vision as if time had stopped.
In that moment where everything had frozen, he heard the voice of his heart once more.
[Ha-ru.]
No, this was something different.
[Are you happy?]
[If so, say “now”.]
A voice he was feeling for the first time, yet was never strange to him, whispered sweetly to him.
[Then you’ll live in this happiness forever.]
Live in this happiness forever?
Though I couldn’t grasp what that meant, I savored the frozen moments around me in quiet contemplation. I wondered when one might wish to remain suspended in time like this, and a naive thought crossed my mind—perhaps this very moment was such an occasion.
[Tell me, Ha-ru.]
[Then I’ll give you this perfect day as a gift.]
The voice offered its proposal with remarkable tenderness and gentleness.
It was truly an enticing proposition.
I’d felt wonderful all day, my condition was at its peak, and every moment of today had captivated me so thoroughly that I found myself wanting to remember it for those inevitable lonely winters that would someday arrive.
‘…Hmm. No, I’m fine.’
Yet I didn’t deliberate long before shaking my head.
‘I think I’ll be okay.’
I still had far too many tomorrows to look forward to.
I wanted to perform well through the remaining award show stages, and after finishing those, I was excited about the trip with my members planned for early next year. There was so much to prepare for the activities already in the planning stages for next year.
[Then wouldn’t it be even better to stop here?]
[Tomorrow might suddenly become unhappy, after all.]
[Yesterday was happy, today is happy, and tomorrow will be happy—why would you give up this moment right now?]
The voice continued its endless temptation.
It felt like that witch who once offered Snow White a poisoned apple and suggested Sleeping Beauty spin the spindle.
In this time where everything remained frozen, I hesitated for a moment.
Then I answered.
‘I’m still fine.’
[…Why?]
‘Because I’ve learned that even winter can be warm now.’
If I told Do-ha this, he’d probably say, ‘That must be global warming.’
At that thought, a small smile leaked from my lips. I wanted to finish this stage quickly and head down to the waiting room to chat and laugh with my hyungs.
‘So I’m fine. Thank you for thinking of me.’
[…Alright.]
With that brief response, the world returned to normal as if the spell had been broken.
I forgot everything I’d discussed with the Voice in that brief interval, but that exhilaration and anticipation remained intact.
“Blow out the candles.”
At my members’ urging, I cupped my hands together and blew gently.
Then the backing track that should have started earlier began playing energetically again.
My Day is Everyday Christmas
I’ll live in anticipation every day
My clear and spirited voice rang out brilliantly through the concert hall.
Right on cue, rainbow-colored confetti burst forth with a pop. The shimmering silver fragments falling through the air looked just like an angel’s wings.
There’s no such thing as a special day
I’ll just wait for tomorrow
Such wonderful lyrics.
With the “birthday today” headband that my hyungs carelessly placed on my head sitting askew, I spread a bright, carefree smile across my face—the kind that Destiny loved so dearly.
It was a seventeenth birthday I could never forget.

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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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