Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 370

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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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370. Finding My Runaway Younger Sibling (4)
‘010-XXXX-XXXX’
I grabbed my phone with hope, but instead of the saved contact labeled “My Won” with Ha-won’s photo, an unknown number flashed across the screen.
‘A strange call at this hour, out of nowhere?’
Knowing with absolute certainty it was the work of some obsessed fan, I irritably hung up.
“Ugh, these stalker bastards are at it again….”
No matter how many times I changed my number, how the hell did they keep finding it?
Before I could even process my bewilderment, the phone rang two or three more times. Knowing all too well that answering by accident would only invite more trouble, I switched my phone to airplane mode entirely.
Then the intercom at the Dormitory began to buzz.
“What the—are these people insane…?”
Did they seriously breach the Dormitory?
A chill ran down my spine.
I recalled Su-ho mentioning it was about time to move anyway. He’d said the extreme ones even crack security codes to get inside. Should I call the police first, or should I contact Kwon Wook? I was weighing these options when—
Beep beep beep beep—.
The sound of someone entering the door lock code. Realizing the situation had escalated, I frantically disabled airplane mode and searched for emergency contacts.
I called Su-ho, whose number was saved at the very top, and simultaneously rushed to the Entrance, engaging the double lock. The door swung open, and I heard a “Hello?” through the phone. I spoke urgently.
“It’s me. Someone’s at my Dormitory right now….”
As I spoke, the person outside yanked the door open. But because of the double lock I’d engaged, the door only opened partway, and a flustered voice came from outside.
With only about thirty centimeters of space between us, I stood face-to-face with the intruder, trying to make out who they were.
And I froze.
“Huh? What? You were home the whole time?”
-Hello? Ha-jin, what’s wrong at the Dormitory?
Neat dark brown hair, sharp eyes resembling my own peering over the frameless glasses he’d worn since high school.
“Why didn’t you answer your calls? I thought you were dying from the heat.”
With thick insulated bags set on either side, a navy short-sleeved shirt buttoned neatly to the collar, and beige linen pants worn with equal precision—
“Ha-won’s ghost is haunting my Dormitory, hyung. I think I’m having heat stroke. I’m hallucinating. …Am I dying?”
“What are you talking about? Just open the door.”
…My (apparently) furious Younger Sibling, Kang Ha-won, was standing right in front of me!
* * *
‘Why is Ha-won at the Dormitory?’
I was stunned.
Not just a little stunned—genuinely, sincerely shocked.
I mean, logically speaking, if the same kid who’d been ignoring my messages suddenly appears at my Dormitory door out of nowhere, wouldn’t I be surprised?
But Ha-won paid no mind to my dumbfounded expression. The moment I opened the door, he strode in without hesitation. Only then did I manage to collect myself and speak.
“You, you…. How did you get here? Why did you come? Did you come alone? Why didn’t you call?”
“I did call, but you didn’t answer. I came because of this.”
“…?”
Ha-won shook the insulated bags he was holding in both hands. Then, with a look of genuine confusion, he asked again.
“Mom said to bring you side dishes. Didn’t the Company tell you I was coming?”
They didn’t.
I had been on the phone with Mother until five minutes ago, and I was currently on the phone with the Company, yet I hadn’t heard a single word about this!
The one who broke through this absurd standoff was Ji Su-ho, who still had the call connected.
-Ah, right, right. Mother said she’d bring side dishes today. Normally you wouldn’t be at the Dormitory at this hour, so I gave you the password…. So Ha-jin, you were resting at the Dormitory because you were sick today, I see.
“Executive Director, why would you mention something so important only at this critical moment when I was about to turn away my only younger sibling?”
I had nearly handed my Younger Sibling over to the police as a stalker, just now.
-Sorry, sorry. I should have told you, but I forgot. Are you feeling any better?
“I was so startled I can’t even remember why I was sick.”
-Can you do the recording this evening? I’ve postponed everything else, but if we don’t do this recording today, we really won’t have time.
“I think it should be fine. I’ll let you know later if it doesn’t seem like I can manage.”
-Good, good. Spend some time with your Younger Sibling, eat something delicious, and rest. I’ll call you later.
“…I’ll contact you.”
To eat something delicious and relax with that Younger Sibling, I’ve committed far too many sins, Your Honor.
In any case, after understanding the situation, I ended the call. Ha-won, who had been at the entrance, had already picked up the insulated bag bundle and gone to the Kitchen, where he was neatly organizing the Refrigerator.
‘Is he not angry? Or has his anger already passed?’
But why did he ignore my messages?
I cautiously made my way toward the Kitchen, gauging his mood. The moment I saw the endless side dishes pouring out of the small insulated bag, my mouth watered—a clear sign that the cold I’d had since morning had long since vanished.
After Ha-won quickly finished organizing and closed the Refrigerator door, I spoke to him in a tentative voice.
“…But why did you come? Didn’t Mother come?”
“I have a gathering in Seoul this evening anyway, so I just said I’d go. Mother looked tired.”
“You should have contacted me….”
“I thought you weren’t home. And I did call, but you didn’t answer.”
“You called? When? No, you didn’t? I didn’t get anything?”
I belatedly checked my missed call list, but there was nothing from Ha-won. My gaze shifted to the most recent unfamiliar number that had been logged.
‘010-XXXX-1012’
…That unfamiliar number, which coincidentally had the same last digits as Ha-won’s birthday.
‘Ah, damn it, could it be…?’
With a faint hope, I looked up, and Ha-won let out a small exclamation as if he’d just realized something.
“I changed my number.”
“…When?”
“About two weeks ago? The day after our School festival. Didn’t I tell you?”
“You didn’t…!”
“Oh, really?”
Oh, really? Oh, really really really really?
Here I was, someone who couldn’t eat for two weeks (actually, I ate fine) and couldn’t sleep (I was just too busy) and felt uneasy (and I had a great time on my Jeju Island trip)…!?
At this unbelievable revelation, my eyes widened to the size of Dan Ha-ru’s eyes. Not that they literally got that big, but they felt enormous in comparison.
“You, you…!”
“…?”
“You weren’t even angry with me!?”
“Angry? Me? At you?”
Ha-won’s face full of question marks, tilted his head in incomprehension as he asked me back.
“Why would I?”
“I… I….”
“…?”
“…I went to your school and caused a scene….”
Just in case—if by some chance Ha-won was so swamped that he hadn’t heard about the incident yet—I spoke in a sheepish, mumbling voice, my pride a bit wounded. But pride wasn’t what mattered right now.
Hearing my words, Ha-won nodded as if he understood and let out a sigh.
“Ah. So my older brother rang the Golden Bell at our department’s bar, bought my drawing from the flea market under his name, signed autographs for Dong-wook and Hyun-jun while pretending to know me, created some cyberpunk school anthem, and now metal rock blares across the campus every hour on the hour. That’s why everyone on our school’s eta is going crazy asking who exactly Kairos Kang Ha-jin knows to pull off something like this?”
…Right. He knew everything.
My last shred of hope that he might not know shattered completely.
But when one door closes, another opens.
Ha-won looked at my terrified face and let out a hollow laugh as if bewildered. Considering Ha-won’s usual habit of not even cracking a bitter smile when truly angry, this was quite a green light.
And just as I expected, Ha-won answered with a face that showed little impact.
“It’s fine. I kind of expected you’d do something like that anyway.”
It was an answer brimming with the hard-earned wisdom of an INFP introvert with a 99% extrovert as an older brother.
* * *
This is the perspective of the younger sibling who was born to find that his older brother was Kang Ha-jin.
‘I hate people.’
Ha-won fundamentally disliked people.
Because he was naturally sensitive, he hated loud noise, and he didn’t particularly enjoy physical contact or building new relationships among strangers.
Perhaps it was because all the family members living under the same roof happened to be people with loud voices and strong opinions.
Ha-won simply wanted to live quietly and comfortably.
He had no particular desire for wealth, no love of food, and even less desire for power—so despite his excellent hands, he was the kind of person who never even served as an elementary school beautification committee member.
-Hey, Kang Ha-jin! We’re going to the arcade. Wanna come with us?
In contrast, the older brother who simply existed from birth was different from Ha-won in every single way. From elementary school, he was so friendly that no one in his grade was a stranger to him, and even with people he didn’t know well, he’d strike up a conversation the moment he met them at the playground.
Of course, when he was younger, he was even more assertive and bold than now, so it seems he was disliked in various places. But young Ha-won didn’t know those details.
-I don’t mind going, but can I bring my younger sibling?
-Huh? You have a younger sibling?
-Yeah. A year younger than us.
-Well, sure. But since he’s in a lower grade, he’d have to play in a different area from us, right?
-Ah…. Really?
There was only one thing young Ha-won clearly remembered about his older brother.
-Then I’m not going. You guys go ahead.
To his extroverted older brother—the epitome of extroversion who knew a million people the moment he stepped outside and had ten million people calling him to play—he was always the number one friend.
Of course, Ha-jin hadn’t always been a “good older brother” from the start.
His unusually sharp older brother would sometimes slyly eat a few more of the snacks their mother gave them to share, and when they played games together, he’d often try to subtly claim the more fun role for himself.
Whenever he wanted to go play with friends, he’d sometimes find it burdensome or annoying that he always had to take Ha-won along. There were times when he seemed to struggle with the fact that he had to share everything with his younger sibling, or that as the older brother, he had to yield to him.
And yet―.
-Wow! Wow!!! That older brother is really fast!!!-
-Huh? Huh huh? He’s winning, he’s winning!
Kang Ha-jin, age 10. Kang Ha-won, age 9.
Back when Kang Ha-jin had pulled off a dramatic comeback victory in the lower grades’ relay race.
-Hey, Ha-won. Who was that older guy you were holding hands with while running? Do you know him?
-He was seriously tall. He suddenly came over to our class and totally freaked us out.
Kang Ha-jin, age 13. Kang Ha-won, age 12.
Back when Kang Ha-jin had seized my hand during the mission relay and sprinted across the sports ground.
-Hey, you guys know? Our school has an idol trainee.
-A trainee? Female?
-No, male. Supposedly a second-year senior. Incredibly tall and ridiculously handsome.
-Oh, isn’t that the guy? You know, the one with brown hair in second year. The guy who did b-boying at the festival.
-Damn, that guy’s an idol trainee? The one who sometimes comes out to play basketball during lunch?
-Yeah, probably. He was insanely good-looking.
Kang Ha-jin, age 15. Kang Ha-won, age 14.
Back when Kang Ha-jin had showcased incredible b-boying at the school festival and become the school’s biggest star.
And then….
-Ha-won, Ha-won! Is this really your older brother? Kang Ha-jin from Miro Maze!
Kang Ha-jin, age 20. Kang Ha-won, age 19.
Back when he had taken flight once more for the dream his older brother had abandoned.
And then….
-Hey, hey, Ha-won! Are you really Kairos’s Kang Ha-jin’s younger brother? I got his autograph at the festival yesterday and he told me to take good care of you. Is that for real?
Kang Ha-jin, age 21. Kang Ha-won, age 20.
Even now, after his older brother had become an idol and came to university to etch those three syllables into everyone’s memory before leaving.
In every moment, Ha-won gave the same answer.
-Yeah. He’s my older brother.
Because in every moment, I was proud of him, and in every moment, I wanted to boast about him.

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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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