Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 369

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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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369. Finding My Runaway Younger Sibling (3)
The timeline shifts back to the present.
Jeong Si-u returned from his vocal lesson and stepped into the Practice Room, where he’d been crunching on the century plant chocolate Yoo Gun and I had brought back from Jeju Island. The moment he opened the door, he had to freeze in place.
He’d sensed the oppressive atmosphere that saturated the entire Practice Room.
“…What’s going on?”
He asked Tae-hyun, who was warming up beside him, as he entered—and soon discovered the source of this gloom.
Crouched in the corner of the Practice Room, clutching his phone like a madman, his face on the verge of tears….
“Why is Ha-jin like that?”
Kairos’s leader—always strange, but today unusually so.
Tae-hyun, who had been flexing with his legs split at a 180-degree angle, answered casually.
“His younger sibling won’t answer his calls.”
“Which younger sibling?”
“Kang Ha-won.”
“Ah. …Why? There wasn’t any problem at the festival last time, was there?”
I hadn’t mentioned having a younger sibling because it would’ve been annoying, and there didn’t seem to be any reason for problems to arise.
When Si-u pressed further, Tae-hyun sat up from his stretched position and sighed.
“He didn’t say anything.”
“…?”
“…That’s the problem—he didn’t say anything.”
Then, placing his hands on his hips, Tae-hyun confessed my misdeeds in detail, his eyes full of pity.
“Remember when Kwon Wook brought all those street food snacks after the Hanbit University festival? He brought almost a whole bundle and even distributed them to the Staff Members who were working late, with plenty left over.”
“Oh…. Yeah. The kimchi pancake was delicious.”
“Ha-jin bought all of that.”
“…What?”
Si-u dropped the chocolate he was chewing upon learning the true identity of this golden bell’s benefactor. But Tae-hyun’s story wasn’t finished yet.
“And that wasn’t enough—he also paid for everything at another table in the Liberal Arts food stall. Everything. Out of his own pocket.”
“….”
“And you know that picture we have in the Dormitory? The one in the frame?”
“Yeah. It had a nice vibe.”
“Ha-jin’s younger sibling painted that.”
“…?”
“The Fine Arts Department held a flea market for the festival, and out of all those works, he specifically chose only that one and bought it. He asked Kwon Wook to help him.”
“…But wait, buying some food and a picture shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Si-u tried desperately to find a silver lining, but Tae-hyun shook his head and spoke.
“Right, I mean. It’s his own money, so there’s nothing wrong with what he bought.”
“….”
“It’s just that there was already a famous freshman named Kang Ha-won in Hanbit University’s Fine Arts Department who looks strikingly like Kairos’s Kang Ha-jin, and this incident just set those rumors ablaze.”
Tae-hyun shook his head as if to say it was a self-inflicted wound, delivering the death sentence. Then he strode toward me, who was shrinking further and further into the corner of the Practice Room as if trying to dig a mouse hole.
With a sharp slap, Tae-hyun struck my back and snatched my phone from my hands.
“Come on, how long are you going to keep doing this! Aren’t we supposed to be practicing?”
“Tae-hyun… Ha-won isn’t reading my messages… He’s never done this before… He must be really angry….”
“Then just wait until his anger cools down and try again. If you keep glued to your phone like this, pestering him every five minutes, you’ll just reignite his anger!”
“What am I supposed to do…? This is the first time Ha-won’s ever been angry with me like this.”
“No, that’s exactly why—you know he’d hate it, so why do you do it and then regret it?”
As Tae-hyun expressed his bewilderment, I grabbed one of his legs instead of my confiscated phone and let out a wailing cry. Tae-hyun set his phone aside and, pretending to pat my shoulder, tried to pry me away from him as he spoke.
“Anyway, we appeared on the broadcast during Miro Maze, so people who know us probably already figured out we’re brothers. If he won’t answer right now, you can just visit him during a free schedule and see his face in person. Won’t he even answer a call?”
“I don’t know… I’m too scared to try….”
“Besides, Kwon Wook bought all the food and souvenirs anyway. Those people have no way of knowing whether he bought them with his own money or not, and nothing’s officially confirmed until your younger brother says ‘yes.'”
At that, no matter how much Tae-hyun tried to shake me off, I clung to his leg like a leech, pouting my lips. My face resembled that of a penitent coming to confess to a priest.
“…But do you really think it’ll be okay? Actually, when I signed something for Ha-won’s peer after the performance, I kind of acted like I knew him too.”
“…How so?”
“Well, that male staff member in our waiting room turned out to be a close peer that Ha-won had shown me a photo of before…. I asked his name, and when it matched, I got so excited I just… couldn’t help myself….”
“…What did you say?”
As Tae-hyun asked with an anxious expression, I muttered in a pitiful voice like a cat in boots.
“That Ha-won hopes he’ll take good care of things….”
“Just go stand with your nose against the wall.”
What on earth was wrong with me?
Unable to comprehend my own actions, Tae-hyun eventually threw in the towel and turned away.
Abandoned even by Tae-hyun, I buried myself in a corner with a forlorn expression, still staring at my phone that hadn’t received a reply.
* * *
So let me offer some explanation—
It was all about the atmosphere. Everything came down to the atmosphere.
Having grown up without ever tasting a drop of alcohol, I naturally would never do anything reckless under the influence.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t impulsive—when I did something wrong, the problem was almost always my mood.
-So you spread rumors all over school that Ha-won was your younger brother?
“No, I really didn’t intend to… When I thought about Ha-won’s school holding a festival, I just got so excited….”
In short, I’d been too caught up in the moment.
For an ENFP who cherished meaning and commemoration, the event of “I, who once gave up being an idol, becoming an idol again and being invited to my younger brother’s university festival” was nothing short of profoundly moving!
Within that moment swirled pride, accomplishment, and a surge of dopamine and adrenaline, mixed with a subtle desire to show off my younger brother who attended Hanbit University.
It was manageable while I was on stage, maintaining some semblance of professionalism, but after finishing the performance with my heart bursting with excitement and coming down, all those unexpressed emotions began to run wild in strange directions!
“No, I really didn’t mean to do it that way! Listen? After the performance, I got hungry and needed to eat, so Kwon Wook asked if I wanted to try some street food while we were here anyway?”
-Yeah, yeah.
“And then? And then? I’d heard that Ha-won said his department sells pajeon and other things at their stall, right? So I thought it’d be better to boost his department’s sales! That way Ha-won could go on better trips for his club activities or whatever, right? So I asked Kwon Wook to buy some from Ha-won’s stall?”
-Yeah.
“But we’d just finished the festival performance so amazingly, and if we just bought a little for ourselves, it felt kind of off, you know? Besides, I have the pride of a top-tier male idol group member, right? So I thought I’d create a nice story too! So I just… paid for everything!”
-My goodness, our son really does earn well. Paying for other people’s tables too?
Mother Young-in, the person on the other end of the call who’d been listening to my whimpering, laughed heartily and spoke in a teasing tone.
For the first time in 2n years of being brothers, facing this first-class crisis, I’d rushed to call Mom for help. At her words, I lifted my cheeks proudly and nodded.
“Heh. Your son’s doing pretty well these days…. Ha-ha, right. Did you get the allowance I sent this time?”
-Yeah, I got it. Thanks to you, son. …Anyway, so that’s why Ha-won isn’t answering your calls.
“Hmm…. Is Ha-won really upset with me? Could Mom gently feel him out about it?”
To be honest, I had never experienced Ha-won being this angry with me before.
Unlike me, whose emotions burned like fire, Ha-won usually endured moments with a calm, unflappable demeanor,
and even when my mistakes upset him or hurt his feelings, he would typically approach me a few hours later, quietly suggesting we play a game together or accepting my apology when I bought him something delicious.
The reverse was generally similar, though I rarely felt genuinely angry at Ha-won, making an exact comparison difficult.
“This is the first time Ha-won and I have gone this long without contact, so I feel… really upset and sorry about it.”
If only we still lived in the same house, I could at least see his face and apologize in person. But ever since my debut, I’d been so busy that we hadn’t had a chance to see each other in months.
I stopped by our hometown whenever my schedule allowed, but Ha-won was usually away during those visits.
Even on the rare occasions when our schedules overlapped at home, I’d always collapse into sleep immediately, exhausted from my packed schedule, so I couldn’t even remember the last time we properly spent time together.
“Ugh, why did I do that? I knew Kang Ha-won would hate it. I knew the rumors would spread, and yet… I’m such an idiot.”
I struck the armrest of the Dormitory living room sofa with my fist repeatedly, filled with regret.
What bothered me most was my own immaturity—knowing full well that Ha-won would hate it, yet doing it anyway. Had I really reverted to being a thoughtless twenty-year-old?
I’d preached consideration and understanding to so many people, yet I hadn’t practiced that same consideration toward my own younger brother, the person closest to me. The guilt weighed heavily on me.
Young-in, who had been quietly listening to my self-recriminations, finally spoke.
-Well, Ha-won’s been so busy lately that even Mom isn’t sure what’s going on. He just comes home to change clothes, and these days he’s been staying at a friend’s studio apartment. He says it gets too late after his night shifts.
“Really? He doesn’t even come home?”
-Yeah, so I’m not sure if he’s actually angry or what… Anyway, let me ask Mom. She can ask if he saw your calls.
“Tell him his brother is really, really sorry. Tell him I’m deeply reflecting on how reckless my actions were.”
-Got it.
At Young-in’s warm tone, I finally felt some of the tension leave my shoulders. Of course, I still hadn’t spoken a single word to Ha-won himself, but since he usually listened well to our parents, I felt a glimmer of hope that if Young-in said something, he might at least check my messages.
Once the worry lifted, a sense of ease naturally returned. I switched my phone to video call and managed a small smile at the sight of Mother’s face on the screen.
“Mom, did you get the things I bought from Jeju Island? Kwon Wook said he’d bring them.”
-Yes, he came by in person. But why send all these things? It must be hard on your manager too.
“I was planning to bring them myself, but I’m going to be so busy for a while that I won’t be able to visit home. I should buy Kwon Wook some beef as a thank you.”
-Yes, always be grateful. Don’t take the people working for you for granted. Understand?
“I know, I know.”
I nodded at Mother’s familiar advice, showing I understood completely.
-Are you at the Dormitory? Are you alone? Where are the others?
“Oh, they all went to lessons. I’m not feeling well today, so I’m resting here for a bit.”
-Not feeling well? What’s wrong? Are you sick?
“No, I just caught some cold air and didn’t sleep well, so I’ve been coughing a bit. I took medicine and I’m resting. I’m fine.”
-Okay, then get off and rest. Mom needs to do some housework now.
“Okay, but you have to tell Ha-won, right? You have to tell him that his brother is really, really sorry and reflecting on this?”
-I said I would. Hang up now, son.
“Tell Dad I love him too.”
-Tell him yourself~ Your father’s been saying he’s lonely because you boys are all so busy these days.
I nodded at Young-in’s words. Even after that, I lingered for a few more minutes, wanting to see Mother’s face a bit longer, but when Young-in insisted it was really time to go, I finally ended the call, my heart full of longing.
“Ah… I miss them.”
Even though it wasn’t that far away, sometimes my hometown felt more distant than Busan or Jeju Island. It was similar to how I felt back when I was working as a PD, laboring day and night at the Company.
‘So, how do I make Kang Ha-won feel better…?’
What Mother told me only managed to pull Ha-won to the surface of consciousness, but actually soothing his anger was an entirely different matter.
As I sighed and contemplated a solution, my phone suddenly rang.
“Damn, is that Ha-won?”
Mom’s timing was impeccable—her response was faster than I expected.
My eyes sparkled as I lifted the phone with the speed of light.

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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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