Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 297

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

297. Nightmare (1)
Inside the villa, lights extinguished and silent.
In that space illuminated only by a single orange mood lamp, Lee Do-ha was the only one breathing.
Lee Do-ha closed his eyes.
-You noticed, didn’t you?
In that silence, Do-ha vividly recalled the conversation with Ha-jin from just a few hours ago.
-Noticed?
-Your nightmares. They’re not just dreams.
-….
-You’ve already suspected they’re memories, not dreams.
Absurdly enough, only after hearing Ha-jin’s words did Do-ha realize he had indeed been thinking exactly that.
‘But… memories instead of dreams? Is that even possible?’
No. Thinking back on it now, it seemed less like suspicion and more like something he’d already known deep down.
The dreams he’d thought were nightmares had gradually become more vivid, and after the year turned, certain scenes would occasionally flash through his everyday life.
He’d simply dismissed it as too absurd an assumption, but perhaps somewhere in his heart, he’d already harbored these doubts—Do-ha continued his recollection with that thought.
-I can’t explain everything. I don’t even believe you’d accept it.
-…Then why tell me?
-Because it’s better to be called crazy by you than to try solving this alone and have us all go down together.
Yet Ha-jin’s hands trembled so visibly as he spoke that Do-ha couldn’t bring himself to carelessly say “I believe you” to someone in such a state.
He simply listened quietly to what Ha-jin had to say.
-Simply put… it’s like a time loop.
Ha-jin’s explanation that followed was, upon reflection, utterly unrealistic.
The fact that we’ve all been sent back through time repeatedly by someone, and that the instigator is the youngest member of our own team, or that some superhuman entity would endanger everyone connected to that youngest member to seize his body—Ha-jin’s explanation sounded less like an explanation and more like a movie synopsis.
-So, what do you need me to do?
Yet Lee Do-ha decided to trust Kang Ha-jin.
It wasn’t merely because Ha-jin was someone who frequently indulged in such science-fiction fantasies.
-You… believe me? What I just said?
-Is it a lie?
-No. No, it’s not a lie.
-Then that’s enough. Just tell me what I need to do.
-….
-…This is that uncomfortable truth you mentioned, isn’t it?
Do-ha simply thought it could be possible.
It just might be.
The world was vast, the universe mysterious, and science incomplete.
Perhaps on the other side of a world he didn’t know, heroes were saving other worlds, grim reapers were vanquishing evil spirits, and some idol member was rewinding time to find happiness.
And if those people were his friend and his younger sibling, Do-ha simply wanted to do whatever they asked.
-What needs to be done is simple. Just….
-Just?
-Just watch over us. Until I wake up.
Lee Do-ha opened his eyes.
A black sea had swallowed even the sunset sun, and the evening had grown dark.
The soft glow of the mood lamp—the only light in the darkened villa—blurred my vision. The villa had been kept so meticulously clean that even the door hinges made no creaking sound when opened.
I lifted my head slowly.
Within the villa, the only other person besides me who hadn’t fallen asleep emerged from a room with a troubled expression.
“…Oh, you scared me. Are we filming a horror movie?”
Yoo Gun spoke in a startled tone while clutching his chest, but I simply rose from my seat quietly. Moving with utmost silence toward the room Yoo Gun had come from, I peered inside and saw Si-woo, Ha-jin, and Ha-ru lying dead asleep on the blankets we had spread out.
With the door left half-open so I could immediately notice anything happening inside, Yoo Gun asked me in a resentful voice, as if picking a fight.
“Now, would you explain? What exactly is this situation?”
Someone unfamiliar with Yoo Gun might have found his tone somewhat disrespectful and impolite, but having spent more time with him than anyone else during our debut preparations, I could tell he was currently quite frightened.
And for good reason—from Yoo Gun’s perspective, he had simply enjoyed himself at the beach, entered the villa to unpack, and taken a short nap to recover from fatigue before waking up.
Yet his older brothers and younger sibling had been unable to open their eyes for hours, wouldn’t wake even when called, and lay collapsed as if nearly dead. Honestly, it was commendable that he hadn’t already called an ambulance.
How was I supposed to explain this?
As I wrestled with the question, my conversation with Ha-jin flashed through my mind once more.
-Why does Si-woo fall asleep but Yoo Gun doesn’t?
-First, if five guys come and four of them sleep while you’re the only one awake, even you wouldn’t be able to handle it.
-….
-If we had to wake one of them, Yoo Gun would be safer than Si-woo. That’s the second reason.
I looked at Ha-jin’s figure visible through the door gap, then at Si-woo sleeping beside him in an unusually disheveled state, then at Ha-ru lying next to Ha-jin with an innocent expression on his face.
And finally, I looked at Yoo Gun, who was staring at me with frightened eyes demanding an explanation.
Ha-jin’s voice still echoed in my ears.
-When we fall asleep, you and Yoo Gun will probably start recovering your past memories.
-…Past memories meaning the things that happened before we rewound time?
-Yeah. You’ll experience less of it, but Lee Yu-gun will have a severe shock. …Damn that mental care thing only applies if they’re not colleagues. Tsk. Anyway, that’s not the important part.
“Hyung, I’m asking what’s happening right now? Should I really call 119? What is it, come on!”
-I didn’t see all of Lee Yu-gun’s timeline…. But I can roughly predict which time period he’ll remember, you know? Do you remember Miro Maze Round 3? When he struggled so hard wanting to drop out.
“Why do you keep staring at me like that without saying anything? You’re scaring me more….”
-If, if Lee Yu-gun actually awakens too….
“…What, right now.”
“Yoo Gun.”
“This, what…. Hyung, wait, right now….”
“Yoo Gun, it’s okay.”
-If that happens, just grip his hand tightly. Physical stimulation to ground him in reality is the most important thing.
Mid-sentence, Yoo Gun’s face turned deathly pale as he clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut. I quickly approached him and, following Ha-jin’s instructions, gripped his hand firmly while patting his shoulder.
Yet even as I did so, memories I had no knowledge of began flooding into my mind like a broken dam.
However, unlike how I experienced them—as if they were someone else’s memories, as if I were watching from beyond a fourth wall—Yoo Gun seemed to be taking the full brunt of the impact, his breathing becoming rapid and shallow.
“Hyung, I…. Ugh, I, gasp, I can’t breathe….”
“It’s okay, Yoo Gun. I’m here. It’s okay. …It’s all in the past. It never happened.”
“I, just, these memories I don’t know, I’m…. No, hyung this isn’t right. This, I’ve never, never done this, but….”
Watching Yoo Gun fall into complete panic, I found myself unable to disbelieve Ha-jin’s unrealistic story, forced to accept it as truth. I even wondered if we’d all taken some drug together and fallen into a hallucination, but the more I thought that, the clearer the images of myself in those flooding memories became.
“Yoo Gun. Look at me.”
Do-ha’s jaw tightened, his Adam’s apple bobbing roughly as he gripped Yoo Gun’s hand firmly, raising his voice in a rare display of urgency to keep the confused younger man from losing consciousness.
Staring directly into Yoo Gun’s eyes, which had turned crimson in mere moments, Do-ha spoke with deliberate, measured precision.
“You’re going to be okay.”
“….”
“I can’t explain everything, but Ha-jin said not to worry because it’s a memory that will be erased soon.”
“…Erased? What do you mean erased? What’s this about Kang Ha-jin, anyway?!”
Yoo Gun’s eyes, which had remained dry through the Ha-cha incident, through Finals, through his debut stage and first-place win, were now swollen and crimson. His younger face glistened with tears, filled to the brim with fear, terror, shock, and bewilderment.
Do-ha took a measured breath, composing himself.
In sports, one of a coach’s roles was to communicate clearly so that the director’s instructions reached the athlete properly. If this situation were a match, he bore the responsibility of conveying Ha-jin’s instructions to Yoo Gun accurately.
-If Yoo Gun truly recovers his memories from Round 3, he’ll probably… be hit pretty hard by the shock.
-Anyone would be.
-No, he really will be. I’ve… done quite a lot of things I shouldn’t have to him.
You can’t even imagine.
The melancholy that had been woven into Ha-jin’s voice then still felt vivid and present.
Do-ha relayed Ha-jin’s words to Yoo Gun in a calm voice.
“Whatever memory you’re recalling right now, just remember only the conversations he had with you while eating. That’s what Ha-jin asked me to tell you.”
“….”
“He said lettuce prices are expensive these days, so you should appreciate how much your brother gave up his share for you.”
“…That crazy bastard really….”
Even in this situation, Ha-jin’s joke wasn’t lost, and Yoo Gun—who had been rigid until just moments ago—let out an incredulous laugh despite himself. The more he mulled over those words, the more absurd they seemed, and Yoo Gun found himself chuckling several more times.
As time passed briefly, Yoo Gun seemed to have calmed down somewhat, wiping his eyes roughly with trembling hands. As he repeated deep breaths several times to steady his still-uneven breathing, color gradually began returning to Yoo Gun’s face.
Do-ha ventured to guess that this ‘awakening’ was coming to an end.
“…That lunatic brother of mine is seriously losing it….”
Whatever memory he’d recalled, Yoo Gun continued muttering curses about Ha-jin with his eyes covered, and rough language about knives and fighting scattered through his mutterings. Rather than prying into each detail, Do-ha chose instead to help Yoo Gun to the living room sofa.
“….”
“…For now, drink some water. In situations like this, it’s important to replenish your fluids properly.”
Yoo Gun obediently accepted the water Do-ha offered and drank it. Though the shock still hadn’t fully subsided—water leaked from the corners of his mouth, soaking his chin and clothes—Yoo Gun didn’t seem particularly bothered.
Do-ha observed Yoo Gun calmly.
-Why… me and Yoo Gun?
Do-ha suddenly recalled the answer Ha-jin had given when he’d asked him that question.
-…Because you two are the most mature among us.
-What?
-While preparing for this, I got a rough look at how you two lived in different timelines….
Ha-jin gazed at the horizon where the brilliant blue sky and sea divided the world, squinting slightly as if the brightness stung his eyes, and spoke thus.
-You two grew up well without much frustration, even when facing the kinds of life hardships ordinary people talk about.
-….
-Even when you had to give up the sports and music you loved so much, even when you had to abandon dreams you’d quietly harbored without ever starting them, just to support your families. You two… lived decent lives regardless. Whether it’s your nature or constitution, I’m not sure.
At the time, he hadn’t understood what that meant, but looking at Yoo Gun before him now, he thought he understood a little.
The Yoo Gun who had been trembling and acting as if he might lose consciousness just moments ago had now returned to his usual sharp gaze, gripping the water cup tightly.
Was this composure born from some primal survival instinct—the weight of a patriarch who had to shoulder the responsibility of an entire household?
Along with such idle musings, Do-ha asked Yu Gun a question.
“Have you calmed down a bit?”
“…Calmed down? How am I supposed to calm down? The people who came with me are lying there like corpses, I’m suddenly flooded with memories I don’t recognize, and my brother here is acting like everything’s fine even after seeing all this… This isn’t a drama. This is real….”
Yu Gun had seemed about to mutter a curse, but remembering the promise he’d made to reduce his swearing ever since his debut, he bit his lip and swallowed the words instead.
Do-ha wanted to explain more to Yu Gun, but he himself had no confidence in explaining any of this, and unfortunately, the two of them didn’t have much time.
“Yu Gun.”
“What? …Just explain something already. I feel like I’m either about to go crazy or I’ve already lost it.”
“Yeah. I want to. But Ha-jin gave me one more thing to do.”
“…What do you mean?”
As Yu Gun stared at Do-ha with bewilderment, Do-ha scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
In his mind, the final fragment of his conversation with Ha-jin replayed.
-So… the other kids aren’t like that, except for you and Yu Gun?
-…That’s the last reason we decided to wake Yu Gun up.
At that moment, a new light flickered in the quiet villa, and a loud vibration rang out. It was Do-ha’s phone, sitting on the table.
The caller was his manager, Kwon Wook.
“Yes, hyung. It’s Do-ha.”
Do-ha answered the call carefully, meeting Yu Gun’s gaze.
Then an urgent voice came through the phone.
-You guys… Why aren’t you answering your calls!?
Kwon Wook’s shout, rare for someone who rarely raised his voice, was almost a scream.
If there was a starting point to a nightmare, it would be this very moment.
With that thought, Do-ha finally squeezed his eyes shut.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————