Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 348

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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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348. ADMIRATION AND SALVATION (7)
The PPL promoting Dreamland’s essential attractions under the guise of acquiring invitations continued on.
Since the morning had been so grueling that they figured they’d already captured enough usable footage, the afternoon missions were comparatively manageable. While riding the extreme roller coasters themselves remained challenging, my body had adapted enough that I could finally appreciate the scenery passing by.
Still, the most grueling part was undoubtedly the bungee jump.
-We need to secure at least 140 invitations to be safe, and right now we have 125. Each successful bungee jump nets us 10 invitations. So we just need to jump twice more. That gives us two options.
-What are they?
-Either one person jumps twice, or two people jump once each.
-Then you jump twice, hyung.
-Why me?
-Because you’re the hyung. Set an example.
Dan Ha-ru, the rebellious kid who normally didn’t even acknowledge me as his senior, pulled out all the stops to subtly palm off the bungee jump onto me. Normally, in situations like this, the proper thing for a senior to do would be to pretend ignorance and coolly accept it with “Sure, let’s do that,” but….
-I don’t want to.
I wasn’t like that.
-Alright, we’re starting the countdown. You have to jump without hesitation—if you look down and get scared, you won’t be able to do it!
-Woohoo―! That’s amazing, Ha-ru! Our Ha-ru is so alive, so vivid! It’ll feel so real! I’ll capture our Ha-ru’s bungee jump in crystal clear detail with my phone camera! Don’t worry!
-Kang Ha-jin is killing me, seriously….
-Everyone in the world!! Our maknae is doing his first-ever bungee jump!!! Look here!!!! He’s our youngest!!!! There’s our Ha-ru!!!!!
-He’s seriously killing me….
If he couldn’t feel alive, I’d make him feel it.
With a sleight of hand faster than the eye could follow, I rigged the lottery draw and got Dan Ha-ru standing on the bungee platform. Originally, Dan Ha-ru had been drawn for both jumps, but Ju Eun-chan at least volunteered to do the remaining one himself.
That was quite the admirable display from a senior. Goodness, I wonder who he learned that from.
“Today’s Kairos, Dreamland edition! The invitation acquisition mission for the guerrilla concert—the final count is…!”
“….”
“You’ve successfully acquired a total of 504 invitations! Congratulations!”
Anyway, back to the present.
We’d successfully wrapped up the invitation acquisition mission. We’d even acquired 100 more invitations than the original target of 400.
“What? Where did you get that many?”
Our team’s final count was around 160 invitations.
After earning 140 invitations from the maknae’s bungee jumps, I rode one more ride—some kind of swing coaster—on the way back, just to be safe. It was the bare minimum of conscience.
That left roughly 340 invitations. But there’s no way the Lee Brothers, whose mission had the lowest difficulty and whose hearts were the weakest, could have acquired 170 invitations.
Which meant….
“By the way, 200 of those invitations were acquired by the Cherry Bomb team.”
At Kwon PD’s announcement, delivered with an expression of disbelief, everyone’s gaze turned toward Jeong Si-u and Seo Tae-hyun standing in the center. Jeong Si-u, still decked out in those bizarre alien sunglasses, an alien headband, butterfly wings, and even a bubble wand, was proudly blowing bubbles.
I was too intimidated to address that strange hyung directly, so I quietly whispered to Seo Tae-hyun standing beside him.
“What exactly did you guys do?”
“Ah…. There was an arcade on the way back.”
“An arcade?”
“Yeah. Each game had invitations as prizes, and Si-u hyung wanted to give it a try, so….”
“What was the mission?”
“Setting a new record.”
“….”
“Every arcade machine high score at Dreamland right now is JSW. You’re incredible at games, hyung. Like you were possessed.”
Seo Tae-hyun said this with a closing round of applause, as if he’d already moved past being surprised. Then Jeong Si-u, apparently having just heard this, pushed his sunglasses up onto his head and spoke with exasperation.
“But you were the one who won 30 tickets at the end, weren’t you? You’re sneakily only talking about me.”
“What did you do?”
“Broke 900 points on the punch machine in a single try.”
“….”
“Seemed like you had a lot of stress built up. Your swing was perfect.”
Every time I got hit on the back, it hurt more than usual.
I made a silent vow never to provoke or defy Seo Tae-hyun and Jeong Si-u again, then naturally read the closing remarks the Writer in Charge had written in his sketchbook and shown me.
“So, shall we start distributing the invitations in earnest?”
“Sounds good.”
“We should probably hurry if we’re going to do this. We need to be back by 6 to prepare for the performance.”
“Then we don’t have much time. Let’s divide into sections, one person per area. 504 invitations divides perfectly into 72 each.”
“Okay, then let’s take some time to regroup, assign our sections, and head out right away. Come on, gather around. Let’s do a chant before we go.”
I gestured for everyone to gather and extended my hand to the center first. The members formed a semicircle around me, each placing their hand on top of mine. Feeling the weight and warmth of each member’s hand stacked beneath mine, I looked toward Dan Ha-ru on the far left.
“…?”
“Let the youngest lead the chant today.”
Dan Ha-ru looked at me for a brief moment as if to say ‘what nonsense is this now,’ but I wasn’t afraid. The moment I spoke, the camera immediately locked onto Dan Ha-ru with a close-up shot.
Worried that Dan Ha-ru might face any attitude controversy, he quickly composed his expression and shouted the chant in a loud voice.
“…Kairos―!”
“Let’s rise up!!”
The sun was beginning to set, and the sky that had been purely blue was now rushing toward a pale crimson hue.
Above that beautiful canvas of color, seven hands rose powerfully into the air.
* * *
“….”
The section Dan Ha-ru was assigned was Memory Island, the innermost area of Dreamland. This zone was primarily where families could enjoy cafes, exhibitions, photo zones, and souvenir shops, with beautiful LED lamps that lit up in the evening being the main attraction.
‘Distributing invitations isn’t difficult or anything….’
Since he’d once done flyer distribution as a part-time job as casually as eating, handing out 70 invitations to people wasn’t particularly challenging for Dan Ha-ru. The real problem lay elsewhere.
“Um, excuse me….”
“Oh my god!”
“Yes…?”
When rough language burst out from the female students he’d approached to hand out invitations, Dan Ha-ru instinctively shrank back in confusion. Seeing his reaction, the girls quickly waved their hands and explained.
“Oh, sorry, sorry! I’m just such a huge fan, you know? I literally ran here right after school ended, I swear! Oh, oppa, I love you!”
What was actually bewildering were reactions like these.
Having only experienced such reactions indirectly while hiding behind Ha-ru, facing them directly like this left me with no idea how to respond. Dan Ha-ru felt his face stiffen with tension in an instant, but managed to maintain a smile as he answered.
“Yes, um… thank you. We’re performing at Love Square at 8 o’clock later, so if you could come….”
“Yes, yes! I’ll definitely go! Absolutely!”
“…Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you for existing….”
The young fan’s passionate confession made everyone around them burst into laughter—from the onlookers to the staff members holding cameras. Only Dan Ha-ru stood motionless, unable to fully accept the fan’s affection.
‘…Grateful for my mere existence.’
It was the first time I’d ever heard such words.
“I love you!”
“I really love Ha-ru the most, seriously. I’m not lying.”
“I happened to listen to the radio, and when I heard your song, it was so comforting. That’s when I became a fan.”
“I’m just so grateful that you debuted with Kairos? That you appeared before me, I’m just so grateful….”
“I saw you on that variety show! The way you worked hard on Touch High was really impressive.”
“But Kairos’s year-end stage was really the best, I think? I saw everything there, including when you performed that dance.”
Dan Ha-ru met countless people after that.
Some were Destiny members who’d rushed to Dreamland as soon as they heard the news, while others weren’t Destiny members but had heard the names Kairos or Dan Ha-ru at least once before. There were occasional ordinary citizens who didn’t recognize Dan Ha-ru at all, but far more people remembered him.
And all of them showed infinite affection and kindness toward Dan Ha-ru.
I felt that one-sided affection and attention were somehow artificial and hypocritical, which was unpleasant, yet at the same time, I could feel how lovely Dan Ha-ru was, how deserving of love. It brought me a strange sense of joy.
It felt like confirmation that the existence I’d wanted to protect while sacrificing everything was shining so brilliantly.
And at the same time, I felt a peculiar emotion.
“Ha-ru.”
“Ha-ru.”
“Dan Ha-ru!”
The name I thought I’d completely abandoned kept flying into my heart and piercing it.
The more I confirmed the significance of Dan Ha-ru’s existence, the more something I’d ignored for so long began to take shape within my heart.
It was an emotion with many different names.
Jealousy, resentment, hope, longing, regret, and yearning….
【Ha-ru. Should we try to draw out the interview a bit more? Feel free to ask whatever you’d like.】
The Writer in Charge held up a sketchbook with the instructions written on it.
By now, only about ten invitations remained in Dan Ha-ru’s hands. But since it was almost time to leave, it seemed this current interview would be the last one.
Dan Ha-ru paused to think.
The person before me was a self-employed Destiny member in her early thirties who ran a cafe, and she’d said she came here after hearing the news since today was her regular day off.
Her favorite song was “This Isn’t a Carol,” and she particularly loved Ha-ru’s part about living each day specially.
She’d just finished an interview saying that Ha-ru’s greatest strength, in her opinion, was always smiling brightly and thinking positively.
Wondering what to ask, Dan Ha-ru impulsively opened his mouth.
“…What if.”
“Yes, yes.”
“What if I wasn’t the kind of person you think I am?”
“Pardon?”
“What if I wasn’t hopeful and bright and always positive like you see me?”
It was a question that could have sounded somewhat confrontational, but the person being asked didn’t seem particularly surprised. Rather, as if she understood the desperate and urgent feelings in Dan Ha-ru’s heart, she simply smiled warmly and made a thoughtful sound.
“To be honest, I might not have been able to accept that side of you.”
“….”
“…If I were in my early twenties?”
The Destiny member spoke in a gentle voice, laughing as if embarrassed.
“When I was young, I only saw what I expected to see, what I imagined. And I’d get disappointed and hate anything that didn’t match that image.”
“….”
“But now I’m in my thirties. When I think about it now, I’m so different from who I was in my teens and twenties. Back then, even day to day felt different. I think every single day was different back then.”
“….”
“But ultimately, all those moments pile up and become who I am. I just hope Ha-ru sees and feels many things, and grows into an even better artist and a better adult. Of course, as a fan, I hope to see only good things and for only good things to happen, but still…. Oh, but doesn’t this sound too much like a mother? That was way too motherly of me, wasn’t it?”
Desty’s embarrassment caught up with her belatedly, and she covered her crimson face with her hands. The production team, sensing they’d captured enough touching material, seemed satisfied. The Production Director smiled warmly and spoke to Ha-ru.
“Ha-ru. Why don’t you give her a hug? She just said something so wonderful.”
At those words, Dan Ha-ru carefully stepped forward toward Desty, who was still covering her face. Accompanied by applause from those around them, Dan Ha-ru slowly embraced her.
“…Thank you.”
In response to Desty’s moving answer, Dan Ha-ru left a very brief comment.
Then Desty smiled and returned the sentiment.
“I’ll always support you.”
Always.
Those words left a lingering afterimage in Dan Ha-ru’s heart for a very long time.
Even as the interview ended and the assistant director approached the camera to clap the slate, and the audio director retrieved the microphone from him, it remained.
* * *
“Ha-ru, Ha-jin is coming here too, you know? There are a lot of people around, so they’re saying it’d be better to just eat dinner here and then head to the Performance Venue. Let’s wait a bit.”
“Yes. …Then I’ll just use the Restroom.”
“Sure. It’s over there, so go ahead.”
Nodding at Kwon Wook’s explanation, Dan Ha-ru stood up. Having been out all day, his hands felt uncomfortably dusty.
The Restaurant where they were waiting seemed fairly crowded, but for some reason, the Men’s Restroom was completely empty. Dan Ha-ru didn’t think much of it and went straight to the sink to wash his hands.
“….”
Dan Ha-ru no longer denied that the strange emotion he was currently feeling pointed to one particular truth.
Yet he still turned away from that truth, refusing to acknowledge it. He had lived too long in despair to accept everything so easily.
And yet―.
‘…I want to talk to Ha-ru.’
When Kang Ha-jin returned, he wanted to have a conversation with Ha-ru. It occurred to him that Ha-ru’s attempt to talk with him on that night when his personality changed might have been in a similar vein.
He wanted to know what Ha-ru had been thinking, what he had wanted to talk about. He, who had lost all authority, didn’t know how to call back Ha-ru, who had vanished beyond the unconscious. But it seemed like Kang Ha-jin could do it.
As he thought this and turned off the faucet, lifting his head to look at the mirror―.
[So you’re going to live on, are you?]
A chilling voice and crimson letters that he couldn’t forget even in his dreams engulfed Dan Ha-ru’s vision.
Before he could react to anything, Dan Ha-ru’s consciousness sank into deep darkness.

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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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