Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 317

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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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317. Youth Sniper Project (2)
—Is it ready? Do we have good angles? Should I grab some lighting?
(You have lighting in every place you go….)
—I ate way too much… I don’t think I can make it back to Seoul…. Goodness, I might have to live here….
—Youngest, how about you film the mountain peak over there real quick? Your stomach will settle by then.
(…I think my digestion is already done!)
—I wish Eun-chan was here.
—Let’s all come back together next time. We can always return.
The video uploaded to AiTube simultaneously with Ha-jin’s post began with a shaky camera view and the members chattering away. As if fixing the camera in place, the screen that had been moving with a clattering sound soon steadied and captured the members clearly.
Not too far, not too close.
A distance where the faces of six members—everyone except Eun-chan—were visible just right.
In the center, a campfire burned with beautiful flames. Around it sat the members in camping chairs, their faces bare of makeup and dressed comfortably in casual clothes.
It was the same outfit they’d worn in the selfie posted on Bluebird’s account earlier.
—You done, hyung? Can you see our faces?
—Yeah. They look good. You can even see the sky in the back.
—But we won’t be able to see the stars, right…? There are so many stars out tonight, and I wanted to show them to Destiny.
—Destiny might say it’s fine since they see stars in your eyes.
—Kyaa…. Listen to that comment. Yoo Gun really is something else.
By the time I recognized the playful voice coming distinctly closer to the camera as Ha-jin’s, he had finished setting up and appeared in the frame. Wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with his favorite black hoodie casually draped over his shoulders, Ha-jin naturally approached the empty chair among the members and sat down.
Skreeeee—
With a noise-filled sound effect, the video was edited. As if cutting away the dragging parts, the members’ appearances changed multiple times in quick succession from the same angle.
They all held drinks and toasted together, had cheerful conversations, sometimes burst into hearty laughter, and occasionally jumped up from their seats to playfully argue with each other—all these moments flashed by rapidly.
Whether it was because the angle was slightly diagonal like CCTV rather than the usual standardized shots, or because the members were completely unaware of the camera.
For viewers, it felt like they were glimpsing into their everyday lives.
—Alright then…. Should we try it now?
After laughing and chattering for quite a while, Ha-jin set the mood among the languid members.
Then Si-woo, who had been sitting in the center, stood up briefly and disappeared off-screen. When he returned moments later, his hands held a tan acoustic guitar bearing traces of his father’s touch—one he always carried with him.
Si-woo, dressed casually in a loose white short-sleeved shirt over a gray zip-up hoodie and matching sweatpants, tuned the guitar strings with an expression that was anything but casual, his legs crossed. After checking the pitch a few times, he nodded, took the pick from his mouth into his hand, and settled into his proper playing position.
—Ready?
With a brief signal, guitar melodies full of dawn’s atmosphere flowed from Jeong Si-u’s hands. As the acoustic accompaniment played, the screen naturally faded, and clean white text appeared above it.
【TO. DESTY】
【Our Spring, Offered to You】
【FROM. K:RUS】
Spring blows in
Without polished backing tracks or high-quality microphones.
The song began with just the accompaniment and voices recorded directly by the camera.
The first verse came from Tae-hyun’s sweet voice.
Right here now
I give you my spring
As the song continued playing underneath, the video transitioned with a rough cut. Scenes of the members looking awkward or fascinated at the camera from the Dormitory appeared—as if from when Ha-jin first got the camcorder. Soft voices saying things like “What, you bought it?” and “Film us too!” were layered in between.
To the gentle yet captivating guitar accompaniment, Ha-ru and Si-woo’s harmonies intertwined seamlessly.
A floral fragrance carrying a smile
And a soft breeze announcing the beginning
Blossoms bursting forth in abundance
I wonder if it reached you too
Lyrics and melodies evoking spring breezes, the faint whisper of wind, and the chirping of insects naturally blended into Si-woo’s guitar accompaniment. On screen, Kairos’s spring days—still unknown to Destiny—continued to unfold in sequence.
Walking back to the Dormitory after rehearsing for the year-end performance, joking around while eating together at a Restaurant near the Company, and even the flower-viewing scene that had been the thumbnail—all played out with sensory graphics.
【Our Spring, Offered to You.】
No expression could have been more precise.
To hold onto this spring
The long winter we crossed
Where do you linger now
Even if you’re still passing through cold times
Ha-jin’s mellifluous voice hummed the melody as if reciting poetry. Not a single joke was missed—whether he’d flubbed the lyrics mid-verse, the comments “No, I messed up again,” or “Does he want to rewrite it like that anyway?” all came through clearly.
Ha-jin glared at the members reproachfully even as he sang, a brief moment that passed with good-natured laughter. The members, comfortably seated in camping chairs, began belting out the chorus together.
I’ll stay by your side here
Until your spring arrives
Let’s walk together, walk
Until our spring is within reach
‘Insane. This is youth itself….’
Perhaps because their previous release had been “This Isn’t a Carol,” with a school band club concept.
Seeing the members sing in casual clothes with such a carefree atmosphere made them look like friends who’d grown up and were on a graduation trip, which only deepened my immersion.
The crackling of a campfire and the night sky painted in darkness behind the members added even more emotional resonance.
Now the members in the video were drawing closer and closer to the present moment.
-The Beach!
-Ha-ru, slow down.
-Just leave him be. He needs to cry a little after falling on his face to come to his senses.
Ha-jin had beautifully captured footage from the Namhae vacation just a short while ago. Though a storm of events had followed immediately after, leaving only these brief moments at the Beach usable for the video….
Yet the sight of the members running freely along the shore without a care in the world was simply beautiful.
After much deliberation, Ha-jin had decided to record even those moments.
A new beginning
Isn’t as easy as all that, I know
But it’s okay, it’s okay.
“Huh…? That’s Eun-chan’s voice…?”
Lost in the nostalgia of the song and video, Kang Ha-di had unconsciously covered his mouth for a while before suddenly pausing the video, doubting his ears. The voice that had just come through the speaker was unmistakably Eun-chan’s—who was currently hospitalized. But Eun-chan shouldn’t have been able to go to Gangwon Province, so hearing his voice was strange.
‘Now that I think about it….’
Realizing something, Kang Ha-di hurriedly found his wireless earbuds and connected them to his phone. After rewinding the video ten seconds and pressing play again, he heard Si-woo’s guitar accompaniment as the first verse’s chorus ended and transitioned into the second verse.
And shortly after.
The song, which had clearly been a live recording from the scene, distinctly shifted into a properly recorded, genuine audio track.
“Insane, insane…. You weren’t just releasing an unreleased track…? They recorded it? When?”
Given that Eun-chan’s voice was in it, it must have been before his accident?
After spending time so frantically busy from ‘Not This Carol’ through year-end activities, when on earth had they prepared such a brilliant spring song? Kang Ha-di barely contained the overwhelming fervor of a devoted fan and refocused entirely on the music video.
That we can do it
If we’re together
If ‘Not This Carol’ had pushed forward its cheerful and joyful anti-carol concept, this song was brimming with the essence of spring—the kind you’d think of while strolling down a path with flower petals fluttering everywhere.
Beginning with an ensemble created by acoustic instruments harmonizing around the acoustic guitar as the main focus, the chorus sung together by all the members felt like it conjured spring day memories that didn’t exist before just by listening.
And furthermore….
“Ah, damn. These guys sing too?”
Even Do-ha and Yoo Gun, the rappers who usually handled the heavy bass and intense atmosphere in Kairos’s songs, had vocal parts!
Spring rain that seems to slip through your fingers
And afternoon sunlight breaking pleasantly down
Compared to Yoo Gun, who generally received praise for having “good tone,” Do-ha was clearly tense and singing carefully, which made it impossible not to laugh at the sheer earnestness of it.
In any other song, his vocal ability would have seemed like a flaw suddenly appearing in jade, but because of the atmosphere the song itself created, even Do-ha’s clumsy and awkward singing felt like a kind of nostalgic filter.
What season are you passing through right now
Even if you haven’t quite reached this spring yet
No, rather, hearing him pour sincerity into every single lyric was enough to bring tears to her eyes…!
“The day I cry listening to Do-ha sing… what a world….”
Still, he really can’t sing, can he, our Do-ha.
Even as she thought this, the members in the music video continued showcasing all the springs they’d passed through to Destiny.
From everyday moments captured with Eun-chan in his hospital room to scenes from this time in Gangwon Province.
Just as Ha-jin had said, they seemed to be doing very well.
As if telling her that those nightmarish days were truly nothing but ‘bad dreams,’ the video was filled entirely with their joyful and fun everyday moments.
I’ll be by your side here
Until your spring arrives
Let’s sing this song together
Until our spring is within reach
With Ha-ru’s clear voice that seemed to purify her eardrums no matter how many times she heard it, the song paused briefly.
At the same moment, the image of the members laughing together in Eun-chan’s hospital room faded out.
‘Is it over?’
Just as Kang Ha-di was about to check the video’s timeline, thinking it had already ended, the screen slowly faded back in with a loud sound. Unlike the footage from before, which showed private moments never publicly revealed, this time Kairos appeared in a form Kang Ha-di had seen many times.
-Don’t get hurt today, don’t get sick, don’t make mistakes, and even if you do make mistakes, don’t show it….
-Does it feel like the chant gets longer with each passing day?
-Just think of it as an incantation.
-Would you make it a prayer instead? Since I go to church.
Members in elaborate makeup and carefully styled stage outfits were gathered in a circle with their hands joined together.
It seemed to be a moment backstage before taking the stage, with the leader Ha-jin and the members gathered to shout their chant.
‘Ah, this is from the first broadcast of Over the Night.’
Kang Ha-di recognized the timing just from the clothes and hairstyles the members were wearing and clamped her mouth shut with an indescribable sense of fullness. Perhaps because she’d been watching them since the survival program, seeing them like this as ‘one team’ made her feel like she might cry.
Ha-jin in the video shouted loudly with his characteristic refreshing smile.
-Now for the real chant. Kairos―!
In the next instant, the video cut rapidly across the screen.
Beginning with the chant from Kairos’s first music show for “Over the Night,” clips of every stage the group had ever graced flowed seamlessly together.
Members in different clothes and makeup at different venues, yet always gathering in that same perfect circle, hands clasped as Ha-jin’s voice rang out with “Kairos!”—the scene repeated again and again.
-Let’s rise!
As the members threw their hands skyward in response to Ha-jin’s call, Kang Ha-di found herself struggling to hold back tears, her brows furrowed with the effort of restraint.
The crescendo came with the final chant.
-Our goal is―!?
-Destiny!
Backstage on that year-end stage—a date burned into memory—where Kairos had claimed their first rookie award.
With a chant slightly different from usual, members and staff cheered in spirited chaos, and the song that had paused burst forth again like fireworks.
I’ll be by your side, I promise
Until your spring arrives
Will you walk with me, please
Until our spring is within reach
Beyond the tender melody sung by all the members together, images of Kairos on stage and Destiny fans waving their light sticks in the audience seats wove together beautifully. The radiant spring they expressed was enough to make one’s heart overflow.
At last, you and I
Can become each other’s spring
Here and now
I give my spring to you
The lyrics Ha-jin had poured his heart into reached Destiny across all the moments that had passed.
It was a fierce declaration of love, commemorating the spring they had found once more.

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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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