Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 366

—————

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

—————

366. The Daily Routine Returns (Part 1)
The evening we returned from Jeju Island with Yoo Gun.
Throughout the drive back to the Dormitory in Kwon Wook’s car—he’d come to pick us up after receiving advance notice—Yoo Gun couldn’t take his eyes off the various snacks and souvenirs I’d bought for him.
He was so protective of them, worried the chocolate might melt in the warm weather or something might spoil, that even Kwon Wook, who was driving, couldn’t help but add his own comment.
“Yoo Gun. I’ll deliver these the moment I drop you off, so don’t worry and try to get some rest. Your schedule today might extend all the way until dawn.”
“Ah… Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for the trouble….”
“Never mind that. But Ha-jin, why did you buy so much? Are you bringing things back to your hometown too?”
I felt Kwon Wook’s gaze on me through the rearview mirror. At his words, Yoo Gun turned his head to check the shopping bags piled up in front of me.
I shook my head while keeping my chin propped in my hand.
“Just snacks for the group members, things for the CEO, and various other items. That’s how it accumulated.”
“You even got something for the CEO? That’s thoughtful of you.”
“He gave me advance vacation time, so this much is the least I can do. You have some too, so please share them with the Management Team later.”
“For me too? That wasn’t necessary. Thanks, I’ll enjoy them.”
“It’s modest compared to what I’ve received.”
I spoke in an intentionally smooth tone, teasing him, and Kwon Wook laughed cheerfully before gripping the steering wheel again. I thought the car might fall quiet after that, but Yoo Gun, who’d been staring down at the shopping bag in his hands while listening to me, suddenly spoke up.
“Take a few of these with you.”
“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden? I gave them to you—are you trying to take them back?”
“You should have something to bring to your younger sibling too.”
I mulled over his words, trying to understand what he meant.
‘Is he worried that I’ve been buying so much for everyone around me that I haven’t prepared anything for my own family?’
Truly, the thoughts of a boy who’d lived his entire twenty years on responsibility alone.
But he was mistaken. I shook my head firmly.
“I already ordered gifts for my parents through the market earlier—they’ll be shipped. Kang Ha-won prefers crafts over food anyway. I’ve already got his gift in my bag.”
“Oh, then what….”
“And….”
“…?”
To Yoo Gun, who was about to turn his head back as if he understood, I showed him the phone screen I’d been holding onto since earlier.
What appeared on the screen was a messenger conversation with Kang Ha-won.
【My Won】
【Won-ah】
【Kang Ha-won】
【Ha-won-ah】
【Hyung came to Jeju Island】
【Jeju Island is amazing】
【Should I buy chocolate? Chocolate?】
【(photo)】
【This looks like something you’d absolutely love, it’s insane】
【Gaaaaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-won】
【Please read this…】
…In other words, a messenger conversation where one side was being severely and completely ignored.
“What is this…?”
Yoo Gun stared at me with a bewildered expression after checking the cold messenger message that hadn’t even disappeared yet. I answered with a bittersweet and sorrowful tone.
“Our Ha-won is absolutely furious right now, so chocolate won’t cut it…”
“…?”
Kang Ha-won had lost his temper.
To explain all of this, I need to go back a few weeks, to a clear day in May.
* * *
Kairos’s second mini album “Youth’s End” wrapped up its promotional activities with quite impressive results.
It wasn’t the massive blockbuster hit like “This Isn’t Carol,” but it solidified their position in the rising tier and was enough to flip the atmosphere that had nearly fractured from individual fanbase conflicts with overwhelming momentum.
– You all fought well
– Compared to This Isn’t Carol, it’s a bit disappointing… but I’m satisfied with this level
– It’s great that our fandom didn’t fall apart this time and that we were united this much. Everyone worked hard.
– Now I need to catch up on OCA and have a beer
The Destiny fanbase was also in a celebratory mood, saying “this level counts as a successful defense.”
Unlike “This Isn’t Carol,” which obviously aimed for mainstream appeal, the title track this time, “Spring Doesn’t Come,” was somewhat distant from public-friendly music, which brought them some consolation.
Though they failed to capture the general public, they found meaning in solidifying their core fanbase and successfully establishing Kairos’s musical identity firmly in the male idol scene.
– Huh?
But something strange happened.
– Why did Spring Doesn’t Come’s ranking go up?
Just as everyone was winding down, ready to take a break after finishing promotions, the song’s chart ranking suddenly started climbing!
The Destiny fanbase, sensing something unusual, immediately began analyzing the cause. It wasn’t difficult to discover the reason for the sudden ranking surge.
[The kids’ song appeared on Gag Friends last week]
Let it all collapse <- A character started using this part as a meme
That character went viral on Shorts and Reels, so the kids' song got dragged along too
The song "Spring Doesn't Come" had been used as background music in a corner of a newly revived public broadcast comedy program! Moreover, as that segment went viral on the Shorts platform, it seemed the influx to the original song naturally increased.
Once the trend started, it kept gaining momentum, and soon it began expanding into new variations through the hands of various creators.
Among them, the "Collapse Challenge" was particularly popular—a twist challenge where people living boring or frustrating everyday lives captured themselves destroying everything while the song "Let it all collapse" played.
[What is Kairos's Spring Doesn't Come? The song is so good?]
You Destiny fans were only listening to something this good?
It's so addictive;; You should've promoted this
– Do you have a conscience?
– My throat was hoarse
– All my vocal cords burst, teacher
I thought this was awkward timing for jumping on the trend, but regardless, it was an opportunity.
The company hastily planned additional fan sign events and special activities to ride this momentum further. However, this plan was blocked by Ji Su-ho, who had recently returned to the front lines.
-Just because there's some response now doesn't mean we should suddenly increase fan signs and push follow-up promotions. It'll only drain the fanbase's resources and increase fatigue without significantly helping the results. We still have two more comebacks scheduled for this year, and no matter how urgent, we can't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
-But… it feels too wasteful to just let this pass. At least some additional music show appearances…?
-Eun-chan has other commitments, and the members are preparing for the next comeback. Suddenly creating activities that weren't planned is impossible. Let's explore other avenues instead.
-Other avenues…?
It was too precious an opportunity to simply let slip away.
To solidify Kairos' upward momentum, Ji Su-ho proposed a simple alternative.
-Summer means festivals, right? Let's look at the list of external events the kids have been invited to.
Events.
They were the flower of the schedule world, the diamond of the accounting ledger, and for singers, something akin to a guillotine where they could physically feel their own recognition.
If a concert was where fans who had passed through picket lines and paid tens of thousands of won would call out names, throw gifts, take photos, and chant cheers—inflating singers' self-esteem all the way to the ceiling of Gocheok Sky Dome—then events were the complete opposite concept.
In various 'events' classified into different categories like festivals and celebrations, the audience might or might not have come to see 'me', might or might not have known 'my' songs.
Therefore, drawing out their reaction was entirely the responsibility of the singer on stage.
If done well, it was an opportunity for unknown singers to become viral sensations overnight, but conversely, it could also burst whatever meager bubbles they had built with their insufficient foundation.
-Will they be okay? The kids don't have much experience with external events yet….
Kairos was merely entering their second year as a rookie male idol group.
Low-ranking rookie male idol groups, unless they'd caused some kind of syndrome, tended to fall lower on the priority list for event bookings.
Even at festivals and events, reactions outside of their fanbase tended to be lukewarm, and in severe cases, friction sometimes occurred between fans who came to see the idols and general audiences.
That's why Kairos also had internal guidelines to start full-scale external activities from their third year onward, once they'd accumulated enough songs….
-Well….
Everyone in the conference room recalled Kairos' past track record in sequence.
Ji Su-ho, having mentally gone through each member's formidable faces one by one, spoke calmly.
-I think they'll be fine, won't they?
-Yes, I think it'll work out.
And so, Kairos' external activities were confirmed!
* * *
On a clear, blue day in May.
On the stage of a university in Gangwon Province.
"Thank you! This has been Kairos!"
My resonant greeting was met with an even louder roar from the stage.
Encore calls echoed from here and there, but this was after we'd already performed two more songs than originally promised. Since there were no more songs we could perform, we had no choice but to reluctantly come down from the stage.
"Great work, great work! Wow, today's live performance was really good, guys."
"How many times have we done this now? Your comments keep getting longer?"
As we headed toward the waiting room tent set up in the backstage area, Kwon Wook and Ji Su-ho gave enthusiastic thumbs up without sparing their praise. Honestly, even we thought the performance had gone really well, so I simply nodded while chugging an ion drink straight from the bottle.
Kwon Wook, who had handed us chilled wet towels, spoke with a smile.
"University festivals are really great, aren't they? The reactions are quick, the audience engagement is good. It looks like a lot of Desty came because you guys were performing."
"Right? Everyone sang along to all the songs…. Honestly, I was a bit surprised."
"But 'Ika' really is a cheat code. When that song comes on, the group singing reaches a whole different dimension."
"The anime medley we prepared was a good idea too. 'Spring Doesn't Exist' is getting more and more people singing along as we go…."
The members were all grinning overall.
Although we'd experienced various stages while running the Youth Targeting Project a few times before, university festivals with unspecified masses of people definitely had a different kind of heat and energy to them.
I received makeup remover tissues from the Manager and wiped one eye, then asked Kwon Wook, who was gathering the remaining luggage.
"Hyung, we have another festival tomorrow too, right? Where is it tomorrow? I'll learn the school song or something beforehand. Today went well, so the response was good."
"Ah, hold on. Tomorrow is…."
While Kwon Wook checked the schedule sheet, I finished removing the makeup from my other eye. Just as I was about to receive another tissue and lightly wipe my lips, Kwon Wook spoke.
"Tomorrow it's Hanbit University. You know Hanbit University? It's in Gyeonggi Province."
"Oh, Hanbit University."
Hanbit University is nice. But why is it nice?
As I pondered the familiar name of the university, I suddenly froze when the connection to Hanbit University came rushing back to me.
"Huh? Hanbit? Hanbit???"
"Yeah, Hanbit. Why? Do you know someone there?"
"That place…."
Isn't that where Ha-won goes?

—————

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

—————