Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 352

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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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352. Longing and Salvation (11)
The Employee Break Room near Love Square at Dreamland.
Ju Eun-chan sat on the sofa in that very break room, his expression somewhat vacant.
‘What happened?’
I slowly retraced the events that had befallen me over the past short while.
After parting with the Group Members, I headed toward the section assigned to me to distribute the invitations. As evening approached, crowds had gathered, and the closer people pressed around me, the more I noticed my breathing becoming labored.
‘And….’
And?
From that point onward, my memory grew hazy.
I couldn’t breathe properly, my vision narrowed, and the murmur of the crowd sounded like noise attacking me. Then someone screamed, and the bodyguards beside me moved in perfect unison.
The one thing I clearly remembered was those eyes.
-How dare you! What gives you the right to…!
The eyes of a man in black I’d never seen before, pinned down by the bodyguards, glaring at me with such intensity.
Eyes that blindly despised and hated.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why I deserved such contemptuous looks.
That’s when it began. My body trembled so violently I could barely stand, and a fear gripped me as though the world itself would swallow me whole.
‘And….’
And then.
I struggled to recall what came next. Because that’s when the strangest thing of all the events I’d experienced that day began to unfold.
“….”
As the bodyguards supported me and moved me to the break room, I began to slowly remember, piece by piece.
What did I remember?
-Eun-chan, my youngest.
-….
-Let’s go with your brother.
-….
-I’m sorry for coming so late.
-….
-I’m sorry for not understanding anything….
Fragments of time that were my past, my future, perhaps something that would never happen again, and simultaneously something that had never occurred at all.
‘…So my brother really did get divorced because of me.’
What I had believed to be dreams until now suddenly crystallized in my mind as ‘memories.’ Not everything came back, but at least one thing was certain.
‘I…. must have been so very lonely.’
That version of myself had endured such profound loneliness for so long.
In a room with no lights on, barely able to see my own reflection in the window, that version of myself repeatedly asked the same question over and over.
-What did I do wrong?
Without realizing how that endless self-questioning gnawed at me like a woodworm, I blamed myself every night. I was far too earnest in trying to comprehend this world’s dark, envious nature—where even having no reason to be hated became a reason to be despised.
‘And….’
Knock, knock―.
The knock from outside the door interrupted my thoughts as I tried to recall what came next. Startled, I tensed, but the familiar voice that followed allowed me to finally relax.
“Eun-chan. It’s Ha-jin. Can I come in?”
“…Yes. Please come in, hyung.”
The moment permission was granted, the tightly shut door to the Break Room opened carefully. Ha-jin, already dressed in stage attire, stepped inside while searching for Eun-chan with his eyes.
Finding him without difficulty, Ha-jin approached with an awkward smile, scratching his cheek.
“You haven’t eaten a single meal? What are you going to do if you get hungry later? Koreans run on rice.”
“…I think I’d get indigestion if I ate now. I’ll eat after we get back to the Dormitory.”
“Sure, whatever. I ate two extra-large chicken mayo sandwiches and now I’m so full my belt won’t fasten.”
He spoke while casually rubbing his stomach with his hand, yet the black leather belt around his waist as he sat on the opposite sofa was clearly fastened with plenty of room to spare.
Eun-chan could easily tell that Ha-jin, who had been known since his Miro Maze days alongside Do-ha and Yoo Gun for his excellent physique, was making this joke purely to lift his spirits.
“Well, um….”
“…?”
Ha-jin, sitting comfortably and putting away the bento box Eun-chan had left behind into a bag, trailed off. When Eun-chan gave him a puzzled look, Ha-jin hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
“…Ha-ru came by.”
“….”
“He wants to talk to you a bit.”
Through Do-ha, he had learned that all the memories that had jumbled his mind were caused by Ha-ru’s time travel.
Do-ha had heard from Ha-jin that Eun-chan had awakened, and at his request, came directly to the Break Room where Eun-chan was. Though he still had a handful of invitations left to distribute, Do-ha paid them no mind and devoted himself entirely to calming the confused Eun-chan.
-What exactly do you remember about Ha-ru?
-Pardon?
-I’m asking whether the person Dan Ha-ru truly exists completely in your memories.
Do-ha carefully chose his words and told Eun-chan everything he knew. Time travel and all—stories that seemed like they belonged only in movies—yet Eun-chan found himself accepting these facts with surprising ease.
It was strange how readily he believed, but Do-ha simply patted his shoulder quietly, as if even that were natural.
“…Yes. I want to talk to Ha-ru too.”
So Eun-chan nodded at Ha-jin’s words.
Ha-ru’s cold attitude toward him recently, these strange events that had unfolded today—if he could only find answers through Ha-ru, then he wanted to get them by any means necessary.
At Eun-chan’s response, Ha-jin quietly rose from his seat.
“Alright. Wait a moment. I’ll go get him.”
When he met Ha-ru, what kind of face should he be wearing?
Eun-chan pondered this while watching Ha-jin’s retreating figure disappear through the door.
* * *
Ha-ru entered the Break Room quite some time after Ha-jin had left.
But Eun-chan knew that Ha-ru had been standing outside the door for a while now. He had been watching Ha-ru’s brown hair bob back and forth past the Break Room window for some time.
“….”
“…What are you doing out there? Come here.”
After hesitating for so long, Ha-ru had finally entered the Break Room, yet he stood near the door with no intention of coming closer. Worried that the rehearsal time would arrive at this rate, Eun-chan felt his impatience growing. He had so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to ask.
“Huh? Ha-ru, come here. Let’s sit and talk.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“….”
To Eun-chan’s call to come closer, Ha-ru answered with an apology. His bowed head looked just like a student being punished.
“It’s because of me. That hyung became afraid of strangers, that you had a traffic accident last time, today’s incident—it’s all because of my selfishness.”
“….”
“I created your unhappiness, hyung.”
[Really?]
[Even if that person is the one who created your unhappiness?]
The moment Eun-chan heard Ha-ru’s words, he recalled a strange dream he’d had long ago.
‘Was that what The Voice was trying to tell me back then?’
While briefly sifting through old memories, Ha-ru—his forehead pressed against the ground—continued speaking in a voice that seemed on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry for pretending not to know about your unhappiness.”
“….”
“I’m really sorry….”
Then Eun-chan replied.
“Why?”
“…?”
“Why are you apologizing?”
Eun-chan’s tone was genuinely bewildered. Wearing the same expression Ha-jin and the fans always made when they teased about “Ju-tto-mol,” Eun-chan drew his brows together and tilted his head.
“What did you do wrong, Ha-ru?”
At the unexpected response, Ha-ru lifted his head. Eun-chan, who had risen to his feet, slowly approached him.
“My car accident, what happened today, things that happened even longer ago—you didn’t cause any of it. So why are you apologizing to me?”
I don’t really understand.
Eun-chan spoke with complete sincerity.
He genuinely didn’t know what Ha-ru had done wrong regarding this situation. To say Ha-ru had created his unhappiness—but he wasn’t unhappy at all now.
No, rather….
‘Aren’t I much happier than I was back then?’
Eun-chan recalled Ha-ru’s first appearance in his memory.
-Hello, Eun-chan hyung!
-…?
-This is my first day here. My name is Dan Ha-ru. …Is it okay if we eat together?
A precious younger sibling and friend who had approached him first and greeted him—while he was slowly crumbling under subtle ostracism.
For Eun-chan, who had nowhere to lean, Ha-ru was another salvation and courage. The only reason he could endure each day. Always alone, Eun-chan wasn’t afraid of the monthly evaluations thanks to Ha-ru, and because Ha-ru served as a bridge, he could maintain a good relationship with Tae-hyun.
Even when he grew exhausted from the Former Executive Director’s pressure and Han Sung-woo’s gaslighting, having Ha-ru allowed him to remain steadfast.
Without Ha-ru, his past self had signed the Former Executive Director’s contract and was used and discarded, but with Ha-ru now, he endured until Ha-jin appeared and resolved everything—that was the proof.
“The reason I told Ha-jin hyung I wanted to talk with you was….”
“….”
“Because I wanted to ask if you were okay.”
“….”
“Are you okay?”
Eun-chan, now close enough to see Ha-ru’s face clearly, asked with genuine concern. And as always, with heartfelt tenderness, he firmly grasped both of Ha-ru’s hands—the same way Ha-jin hyung had once comforted him.
“I was okay because you were there, but you didn’t have me.”
“…You’re not angry with me?”
“Why would I be angry with you? And even if you did make some mistakes, what of it?”
Unable to meet his eyes, Ha-ru’s question drew a soft laugh from Eun-chan, who waved his hand briefly in dismissal.
“I can just forgive you. I’m your older brother, after all.”
“….”
“…Wait, but if you’ve done so much time traveling… does that make you older than me?”
At that innocent remark, so characteristic of him, even Ha-ru—whose eyes had been glistening with tears—couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
“Even if I go ten years into the future and age ten more years, you’d age ten years too. How would that make me older….”
“Really? That’s a relief. So I’m definitely the older one then.”
“…You’re really an idiot.”
In Eun-chan’s grip, Ha-ru’s trembling pulse gradually returned to its normal rhythm. Feeling the steady beat transmitted through his thumb, Eun-chan found himself smiling brightly, having already forgotten that he’d nearly been cut down today.
“Thank you, Ha-ru.”
“…Why do you keep thanking me?”
“For pulling me out of that misery.”
“….”
“For getting me out of that room. I mean it—it’s all because of you.”
Ha-ru didn’t answer.
But Eun-chan already knew his answer.
The small warmth of the hand that had been holding only itself now grasping back in return—there was nothing more precious than that.

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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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