Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 306

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

306. Phantom Pain (5)
‘A confession?’
The moment Han Ji-woo heard that word, it felt as though a massive boulder had crashed down upon her chest.
No—that wasn’t it. Her intentions were nothing like that.
She had merely been trying to suggest a way to correct this situation that had spiraled far beyond reason. It was her duty as a person, what she ought to do as a human being.
Han Ji-woo replied to Ha-jin, struggling to keep the tremor from her voice.
“A confession… you mean a confession, Ha-jin? That’s not what I—!”
“You’re the reporter who approached Eun-chan by pretending to be a fan, correct?”
“….”
But her words were cut to shreds once again by Ha-jin’s interjection.
Faced with that tone suggesting he knew everything and those eyes that coldly betrayed contempt, Han Ji-woo found herself forced to seal her lips shut once more.
Ha-jin continued, observing her silence.
“You knew Eun-chan is unusually cautious around his fans, didn’t you?”
“….”
“You wrote an article before. Something like ‘Kairos Ju Eun-chan, Fan Signing Controversy? Rookie’s Inexperience or Revealed True Character?’ And you’ve written plenty of articles about us since then.”
“…!”
When Ha-jin cited the exact title of an article she had written, Han Ji-woo’s lips, which had been forming a rebuttal, simply froze shut as if sealed.
Ha-jin pressed the corners of his eyes with one hand as though exhausted. The movement was slow and languid, yet no one in that space could break through the silence and oppressive weight he created.
“If writing a clarification article is how you escape your guilt, then do it. But….”
“….”
“…if you want forgiveness, ask for it another time.”
“….”
“Right now, I have no wish except for those two to wake up safely.”
With those meaningful final words, Ha-jin nodded to Kwon Wook to head upstairs and simply walked past Han Ji-woo. With just a few strides, Ha-jin had already put considerable distance between himself and her.
Kwon Wook exhaled softly watching Ha-jin, and by the time he said he’d be in touch and took the business card still held in Han Ji-woo’s hand,
Han Ji-woo hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath.
Only as she gasped for air did she notice her gaze was still lost, staring blankly into empty space. Emotions too complex to name pressed down upon her from head to toe, crushing her beneath their weight.
And it was Ha-jin’s voice that awakened her from beneath that stone tomb.
“…Reporter.”
“…?”
Han Ji-woo spun around, startled as if waking from a dream, and saw Ha-jin and Kwon Wook standing at a distance, watching her. Ha-jin’s gaze remained as indifferent and domineering as before, showing no sign of softening as he delivered his final words to her.
“…Thank you for reporting the accident and giving your testimony.”
“…Ah.”
“I mean it. Separate from forgiveness.”
Then Ha-jin bowed his head briefly in acknowledgment to her. Kwon Wook, following suit, bowed deeply as well, his posture slightly more relaxed than Ha-jin’s.
Han Ji-woo stood frozen like a statue, unable to look away.
Not until the two of them disappeared into the Emergency Exit, moving quickly, almost running. For a long while.
“…Hah.”
Only then could Han Ji-woo confront her true self—the one she had hidden deep beneath the shell of rationalization.
-I wish you’d make your confession at a church instead.
Confession.
Could there be any other word that captured what I’d just done so perfectly?
‘What was I even doing just now?’
I was the very source of all this trouble, yet I’d had the audacity to strut around as if I possessed the solution, as if I were someone special.
How arrogant and self-centered was it to think I could compensate those wounded by articles with articles of my own?
Han Ji-woo realized she was mimicking the very antiquated, shabby mindset of the industry she’d so despised, and an unbearable shame washed over her.
‘Did I want to be forgiven?’
Did I want recognition that I was different from them, that I wasn’t such a pathetic journalist, and to find comfort in that acknowledgment?
If so, how hypocritical was that wish?
Han Ji-woo stared blankly at the business card case in her hand. She’d gripped it so tightly that the imprint of the leather case was clearly visible on her palm. She withdrew a single card from the case and placed it on her other hand.
On the card, its ink faded and glossy from age, the two characters reading “journalist” felt strangely out of place.
“…This is pathetic. Really.”
The business card crumpled mercilessly in Han Ji-woo’s hand.
After standing there for a long while, as Han Ji-woo made her way back to her car, the weight of guilt finally revealed itself on her face, pressing down upon her with undeniable heaviness.
* * *
The elevator ascending to the hospital room remained filled with silence.
Though we were idols, I’d wondered if we really needed to use such a prestigious hospital’s VIP suite, but once I realized that Joo Eun-seok would never leave his younger brother in a shared six-person room with compromised privacy, it made sense. A man with money and a generous heart wouldn’t have overlooked Ji Su-ho, who’d gotten hurt protecting his brother.
“….”
“…Hyung.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
I watched the floor numbers climb steadily in the ascending elevator, then spoke to Kwon Wook beside me, who was still busily sending messages somewhere. At my words, even amid his busyness, Kwon Wook put his phone down and looked at me.
“What’s up? You need something? Is there something you want?”
Even in moments like this, I couldn’t help but think how much like a manager he was.
Ji Su-ho had personally coaxed him away from another company years ago, and I imagined he must use someone like this as an extension of himself. The way Kwon Wook acted—as if he’d fetch me coffee the moment I asked—made me smile softly and nod.
“…Why aren’t you scolding me? I just came from being incredibly rude to a major news reporter. And I’m a rookie, no less. You should be telling me I’ve caught celebrity disease.”
“What? …Oh. What did I—”
Kwon Wook scratched his forehead as if he’d only just understood what I meant, his expression growing thoughtful. Like a routine he’d done before competitions back when he’d been an athlete, he released the tension from his shoulders as he spoke.
“If anyone should be scolded, it’s me. Managing a celebrity’s image is part of my job as a manager, and instead of stopping you, I was actually relieved that you were speaking the truth.”
“You were relieved?”
“Completely. Like a weight lifted off my chest.”
At Kwon Wook’s lighthearted remark, I found myself laughing again despite myself. Even as I felt suffocating worry about Ju Eun-chan and Ji Su-ho waiting in the hospital room, I was amazed that I could still laugh.
Kwon Wook continued speaking.
“I don’t know…. Maybe I should have stopped you back there. These days, a single word or the wrong nuance can become a target. Especially now, with everything so unstable.”
“….”
“But I just…. In that moment when you spoke like that…. I felt so grateful. Because it seemed like you’re still someone who can express your feelings so clearly to others.”
As he spoke, lost in thought, Kwon Wook repeated cycles of deep breathing. After clearing his throat with a soft sound, he turned to look at me with a sad smile.
“Working in this industry, you see it a lot. Kids who learn to smile without even being able to call rudeness what it is.”
“….”
“Even Eun-chan couldn’t refuse just because someone called themselves a fan…. I heard that’s how he ended up like this. If I made you kind and polite even in that situation…. wouldn’t that make me a terrible adult?”
Even as his mouth formed words with a smile, speaking playfully, Kwon Wook’s eyes were swollen and red. As if barely holding back tears, he wiped at his eyes with his hand, muttering “Ah, come on.” Then, as if all the emotions he’d been suppressing came flooding back at once, he exhaled a breath full of sorrow.
“I’m the one who did it. I told Eun-chan that I knew things were difficult, but to try a little harder and pay more attention. I said that sometimes you need to put in more effort and care so that the fans can understand your sincerity. Since you have such a strong impression naturally, I told him he’d probably need to be more careful going forward….”
“…Brother, ah, don’t cry. Why are you like this, really.”
“Knowing he’s such a thoughtful person, ah…. If only I hadn’t said those things to Eun-chan….”
This is someone who sees our faces every single day, manages our every move, and drives over six hours round trip for us. There was no way his heart could be at ease hearing news of our accident.
And yet, he still came all the way to pick us up from a place six hours away, driving with nothing but caution and care so we could return safely. Not a single word of complaint.
And I knew better than anyone that such a thing was only possible with an amount of affection and sense of responsibility that was almost unimaginable.
“It’s not your fault, Brother. None of us think that way. You know that, right?”
“A manager crying in front of his own artist, failing to respond properly even in a situation like that just now, really…. Ah, pathetic, absolutely pathetic.”
“No, I really didn’t want to make jokes like Lee Yu-gun would right now…. Why do you have no one on your side, why. I’m telling you not to cry? You’re a grown adult, really, goodness.”
The mere fact that someone could think of us like this and cry for us.
With just that one simple fact alone, I could become a carefree fool who could smile foolishly even in the midst of this tragedy.
“So Ha-jin, you just, huh? Refuse what you need to refuse. Say no to what’s wrong. That’s fine. Even if you act a little rude, I’ll cover for you somehow, huh? Got it?”
“Got it, got it. My goodness, who started that rumor that Miro only has scary people? The manager, the entertainers—everyone’s so soft-hearted….”
Watching Kwon Wook cry as if it were his own responsibility when it wasn’t his fault at all, earnestly pleading with me, I let out a soft laugh and pulled a handkerchief from my pocket to hand to him. Then he rubbed the handkerchief all over his face and finally poured out all his emotions.
“When I heard that Eun-chan and the Executive Director had an accident, my heart just…. Phew, really….”
“Ah, stop crying, really? Seriously, this is a disaster, an absolute disaster.”
“Don’t make jokes like that, you bastard…!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won’t, I won’t. But even in all this, what doesn’t work is sharp as a blade.”
“Ah, really…. Jung Kwon Wook, you’re really pathetic today, pathetic.”
“Huh? Wasn’t your name Kwon, Brother?”
“I’m Jung…!”
“Didn’t know that, that’s something….”
True to his reputation of having done some judo back in the day, the man had a sturdy build and a fearsome appearance, yet with that rugged face he cried quite well. Confirming with my eyes that the elevator was almost at our floor, I awkwardly embraced Kwon Wook and patted his shoulder gently.
“It’s okay, Brother. It’ll be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“…I really have no face to show the Executive Director, no face.”
“It’s okay, really.”
“….”
“We haven’t lost anything yet.”
Nothing is too late yet, Brother.
Like an incantation. Or like candy swallowed quickly after taking medicine. I repeated those words over and over, comforting Kwon Wook.
“Ugh, really…. What is this pathetic sight, really? And right in front of you too….”
“It was endearing to see you look so human, Brother.”
I withdrew my arm from patting his shoulder as he grew embarrassed, speaking playfully.
After crying his heart out, his face seemed lighter, and as he exhaled with a soft breath, the usual steadfast reason had returned to his expression.
“Anyway, I’m not letting this slide. I’ve already told the company—we’re going to respond strongly to this. Really, don’t worry, okay?”
“Yes, yes. That’s reassuring.”
“From Tae-hyun to Eun-chan…. Let’s see them try. I won’t let a single interview get out, I promise you.”
The way he spoke so firmly was, in fact, truly reassuring. He looked ready to grab and bind every single reporter writing speculative articles about us right then and there.
“No, Brother.”
“…?”
“Let’s make the game bigger, shall we? Time to teach those reckless journalists a lesson they won’t forget.”
But such petty revenge wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy me.

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