Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 332

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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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332. Our Child Has Changed (3)
Nam Da-down examined me with the intensity of a mad scientist who’d discovered fascinating neurons, his brow furrowing as he spoke.
“Something bothering you?”
Of course—ordinary logic would naturally lean toward “what happened?” rather than “this person has changed.”
I felt Dan Ha-ru glancing at me, uncertain how to respond. Since he’d done everything within his power, it was my turn to step in.
“Ha-ru’s been pushing himself hard with comeback preparations lately, and his condition isn’t great. I was actually trying to get him back to the dormitory to rest as soon as possible.”
“Oh? That explains it. He seemed so subdued today—I almost didn’t recognize him from a distance.”
“Exactly. If Ha-ru looks this different, you can imagine how poorly he’s doing, right? Look at him sweating. We need to get him to bed immediately. Right, Yu Gun? Help Ha-ru over there.”
“Huh? …Ugh, yes.”
I responded urgently to Nam Da-down, who’d intuitively grasped the truth despite being a civilian, and discreetly jabbed Lee Yu-gun’s ribs with my elbow.
Lee Yu-gun yelped and bent forward, but fortunately caught my meaning and immediately rushed over to grip Dan Ha-ru’s shoulder. Lee Do-ha joined in awkwardly from the side, sweeping his large hand down Ha-ru’s back.
By then, Dan Ha-ru seemed to decide that playing sick worked in his favor, so he leaned his head against Lee Yu-gun and acted listless. His act of feigning illness was surprisingly convincing.
“Oh my, keeping a sick kid here. Go on, go! I’ll have cookies sent to the dormitory—make sure you eat them when they arrive.”
“Yes, yes. Of course. We’re always grateful for your kindness. Well then, we’ll be going….”
“Sure, sure. Go safely, take care~”
We seized our narrow window of escape and slipped away quickly and efficiently. Choi Yeon-woo seemed slightly disappointed we hadn’t talked more, but if we’d lingered even five minutes longer, Dan Ha-ru might’ve genuinely lost it.
Fortunately, the elevator ride down to the first floor was uneventful. We passed a few company employees and exchanged brief greetings before hurrying on. Now we just needed to exit through the back entrance and catch a taxi to the dormitory.
‘Please, please. No managers around, please….’
If we ran into the managers smoking out here, that was another ten minutes minimum. Actually, the managers would be a blessing compared to the sasaengs who’d been staking out the building a few days ago—that would be a real headache.
We slipped outside like thieves in the night. Since it was early morning, the area outside the building was fairly quiet. Fortunately, neither the managers nor the sasaengs were visible.
“Huh? Who’s this?”
“….”
“Our youngest members!”
“…Hello, hello, CEO.”
…Instead, the CEO was there.
Along with the flashy foreign luxury car that had picked up Lee Yu-gun and Seo Tae-hyun from the college entrance exam.
‘Wasn’t he supposed to be on an overseas tour with Yupia!?’
But realizing I’d just encountered Yupia’s main dancer moments ago, I couldn’t hide my dismay and closed my mouth. Han Se-won, the CEO, approached with a friendly smile, his face deeply tanned from enjoying spectacular leisure abroad, sunglasses perched on his nose.
“Where are you headed? Don’t you only have evening schedules today? I think Manager Kim mentioned that earlier.”
“Ah, well, the, the dormitory….”
“Oh? How were you planning to get there?”
“A taxi… I was going to take a taxi. Or, walk… no, wait….”
“No way—I can’t send our precious youngest members off in a taxi. Get in! I’ll take you.”
“…No, I mean, that’s… we’re fine….”
“Come on, no need to be shy. Get in, get in. Yu Gun rode with me before, right?”
“No, well, ugh…!”
Before anyone could protest, we were swept along by the broad-shouldered Han Se-won and bundled into that gleaming foreign car. Because Lee Do-ha, Lee Yu-gun, and I happened to pile into the back seat first, Dan Ha-ru ended up stuck in the front passenger seat.
“Wait, CEO! Then I should sit up front…!”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m close with Ha-ru. Ha-jin’s known him longer than you anyway. Right, Ha-ru?”
“…Yes.”
Ha-ru glanced at the three of us crammed awkwardly into the back seat, then nodded as if resigned to our fate before climbing into the passenger seat.
Once I’d gotten in, there was no getting out. I quickly accepted the situation and leaned back against the seat.
Or rather, I tried to. If only Do-ha’s shoulder hadn’t been driving into my shoulder blade.
“Ow!”
“Oh, sorry. I’m trying to bend over.”
“…No, it’s fine.”
Yoo Gun, sitting at the far end, was already folded in half lengthwise, pressed almost flush against the window. I nodded at Do-ha’s apology, rounded my shoulders as much as possible, and pressed myself against the window. So close that if someone accidentally opened the door from outside, I’d tumble straight onto the pavement without any resistance.
Then Ha-ru, sitting alone in the passenger seat with more than enough room, turned his head back to look at us.
“…?”
After confirming that we were contorted awkwardly in our seats, Ha-ru stuck his tongue out with a smug expression and turned back around. Did that bastard just make fun of me!?
‘Wait until we get to the dormitory. Just wait….’
My cute little sparkling returner….
I was genuinely starting to wonder how I’d ever explain him to the other members and the fans.
* * *
“The comeback’s coming up soon, right?”
“Yes, we’re preparing hard for it.”
The distance from the company to the dormitory was longer than I’d expected. I’d worried about what to talk about on the way, but before we could even open our mouths, CEO Han Se-won brought up a topic himself.
“Right, there’ve been all sorts of things happening inside and outside the company. I hope it all turns into good results. I listened to the title track too, and it was fun, you know? Whose idea was the concept?”
“Ah… The initial concept was mine, but the lyrics and composition were mostly done by Seo Tae-il and the other staff members.”
It wasn’t modesty—it was the truth.
I’d been the one to request “I want the title track to have this kind of concept,” but the final song was more than 90% the work of Seo Tae-il and the other production staff.
But Do-ha immediately countered my words.
“Ha-jin conceived the key concept of the song itself. Ha-jin’s opinions had a lot of influence when working on the lyrics and melody too. That’s why everyone said Ha-jin’s name should definitely be included in the songwriting credits this time.”
“Really? Ha-jin’s a real treasure~”
“Huh? No, well… I mean….”
I’d lived with quite a bit of affection since debuting as an idol, but I still wasn’t immune to direct praise like this. Especially not when it was for something I didn’t think I deserved credit for.
In this “There Is No Spring,” there wasn’t a single line of lyrics that I’d written entirely on my own.
There were parts where my ideas were reflected, but even that was just modifying existing sentences to fit our concept better. Honestly, if it weren’t for Seo Tae-il and Do-ha’s persuasion that “if you participated even in a single character, not just a word, your name should naturally be in the credits,” I wouldn’t have put my name in the songwriting credits at all.
“….”
Thinking about the title track brought more thoughts with it.
Thinking about the activities reminded me of the fan feuds I’d forgotten about for a moment, and I remembered Lanion, who’d made their comeback earlier than us back in March and hit it big again…. And then the worry about what kind of reaction this “Youth Trilogy” I’d pushed for would get from the public piled up like a mountain.
As if understanding all my thoughts, CEO Han Se-won, who’d been occasionally glancing at the back seat through the rearview mirror, asked in his characteristic booming voice:
“Ha-jin, are you confident?”
“…Sorry?”
“Are you confident about this album? Confident enough that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to say it’s your song anywhere?”
Was I confident?
I thought about it.
And I answered.
“Yes.”
Then CEO Han Se-won chuckled and patted Ha-ru’s shoulder next to him, saying:
“That works then.”
The conversation about the album ended there.
Han Se-won naturally pivoted to a different topic, regaling us with an amusing account of how shocked Lee Yu-gun and Seo Tae-hyun had been when they saw him on the day of the college entrance exam. Even Dan Ha-ru, who had been sitting quietly with a downcast expression the entire time, couldn’t help but let out soft chuckles despite himself.
Yet even that was enough—I felt the tension draining from my muscles, and the hazy, smoke-like clutter that had filled my mind gradually dissipated.
‘…Now I understand why Seo Tae-il clings to this company even if he’s about to die.’
I suddenly found myself envying Seo Tae-il’s life.
What kind of fortune was it to meet people like this at such a young age and build bonds deep enough to witness mountains change twice over? Was it innate luck, or was it something only possible because he was Seo Tae-il?
‘If I had met people like this back then….’
Along with that thought came recollections of my own past, filled with failures.
Were my failures because I was insufficient, merely a matter of timing, or was it due to an unsuitable environment?
My gaze naturally drifted toward Dan Ha-ru in the front seat.
Through the rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of his profile—an unfamiliar cynical expression occasionally breaking into a smile, yet seeming lost in thought much like myself.
Are you thinking similar thoughts to mine?
Questions I couldn’t ask kept piling up. I simply turned my gaze away and looked out the window.
Beyond the heavily tinted glass, the Han River view unfolded with an oddly beautiful clarity.
* * *
Han Se-won personally escorted us all the way to the underground parking lot of the Dormitory.
I was genuinely grateful—it was certainly more convenient than taking a taxi—but Han Se-won parked the car, got out, and even saw us off. He could have simply dropped us at the building entrance and left, yet his consideration for his artists seemed almost excessive.
“Then be careful going in. I’m looking forward to this year too, our youngest ones.”
“Yes. Please take care on your way back, sir.”
“Ha-ru, take good care of your health too, alright? Oh, and how is your grandmother doing?”
At Han Se-won’s final words, spoken with a smile, Dan Ha-ru’s expression froze instantly. Noticing something was amiss, Han Se-won furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Wait, hold on. Your grandmother…wasn’t it? Why did I suddenly think of your grandmother?”
The ‘fake family’ setup created by Seon Gwi-ja and Dol-ja had completely vanished after the personality merger at the villa last time. Except for those whose timelines had awakened through their connection with me and Dan Ha-ru, people couldn’t properly recall Dan Ha-ru’s family.
‘I hadn’t had the presence of mind to confirm exactly ‘how’ the setting had disappeared, but I never expected an attack like this to come out of nowhere….’
I wondered if this was another of Dol-ja’s schemes, but Han Se-won’s reaction suggested otherwise. He had unconsciously asked the question due to lingering fragments of memory, and it was obvious he was confused himself.
“Strange, haha. Why did I suddenly think of Ha-ru’s grandmother when I saw him? I’m something else….”
“…The Orphanage Director, sir.”
It was Dan Ha-ru, looking as though he might collapse at any moment, who barely managed to offer an answer to Han Se-won, who kept wondering why he had suddenly thought of Dan Ha-ru’s grandmother.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I think you’re referring to the Orphanage Director who took care of me. He came as my guardian when I joined the company before.”
“…Ah! Oh, right. That must be him. Oh my, getting older really does make my memory fuzzy.”
Han Se-won belatedly recovered, waving both hands dismissively. Perhaps the fact that Dan Ha-ru was an orphan had taken a moment to register, because Han Se-won tactfully ended the conversation and immediately opened the car door.
He had sensed it was time for him to make his exit.
“Right then. Go on up and get some rest now. I should be heading out too. See you next time, everyone. Ha-jin, if you need anything like last time, feel free to reach out.”
“Yes. Please drive safely.”
“Alright, alright. I’m going. Get upstairs now.”
The gleaming foreign car, as always, slipped out of the parking lot like the wind.
An awkward silence settled over the four of us left behind. I could feel Do-ha, Yu-gun, and myself all subtly watching Dan Ha-ru. The brightness that had flickered across his face a few times in the car was completely gone now, replaced by something far darker.
“…What are you doing? Aren’t you going up?”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Yet even now, it was Dan Ha-ru himself who broke the silence and set us in motion.
The face of Dan Ha-ru, once the very epitome of carefree brightness untouched by worry or concern, was now filled with loneliness, solitude, sorrow, and bitterness. And yet he was equally practiced at swiftly concealing and burying those emotions.
“…I checked the group chat on the way here, and apparently both Seo Tae-hyun and Si-woo have something going on today, so they’re not at the Dormitory right now. So you can just relax there. Since you’re sharing a room with me anyway, you don’t need to keep up the act even inside the room.”
As we rode the elevator up to the Dormitory, Lee Yu-gun spoke to Dan Ha-ru in a casual, offhand tone. Understanding that this was his own way of being considerate, Dan Ha-ru nodded without much reaction.
Lee Do-ha and I both chimed in with our own words, trying desperately to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, well, these guys all know what’s going on anyway, so let’s just relax. If it comes down to it, come along when Lee Do-ha and I head to the Studio. We can cover for you somehow when you’re with us.”
“Hmm… You know, it might be good for Ha-ru to start working on something too.”
“Hey, you didn’t eat breakfast, right? Since there’s only us here anyway, it’d be nice if you could eat comfortably. What do you want? Ha-ru, you pick. I’ll buy you whatever you want.”
We deliberately rambled on, quickly exiting the elevator and entering the Dormitory.
And the moment we opened the Dormitory door, we realized we’d forgotten something rather important.
“Should we get meat? Meat? We can’t eat it when Seo Tae-hyun’s around, so if we’re going to eat it, now’s the time….”
“Oh, hyungs, you’re here?”
“….”
As the door opened, Ju Eun-chan, who was chugging white milk straight from the carton with one hand, greeted us. The one with a cast and shoulder brace on his left arm spotted Dan Ha-ru coming in behind us and broke into an even brighter smile.
“Ha-ru came too? I brought that gaming console I mentioned last time from my hometown. Want to play now?”
Our Eun-chan… had been discharged from the hospital, hadn’t he….
The appearance of a complication we’d completely forgotten about.

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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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