Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 372

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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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372. Finding My Runaway Younger Sibling (6)
Kang Ha-won’s wall of resistance was formidable.
“Then at least follow me back on OneStagram….”
“I don’t use OneStagram.”
“Then at least post a picture of just your hand, without showing your face….”
“No.”
“Then at least tell the fans you visited the dormitory….”
“That won’t work.”
The heart of an older brother unable to acknowledge his only sibling as his sibling was desolate, but truthfully, I’d asked knowing it wouldn’t work anyway—so there was no real sting. The fact that he’d shown his face and appeared on broadcast during the Miro Maze days was already a miracle that defied the laws of the universe.
“…Alright then. Let’s head out soon.”
“Head out? Where?”
“You have an appointment, right? I need to get to the company for a recording session too. I’ll walk you to the train station.”
In my honest heart, it had been so long since I’d seen his face that I wanted to beg him to at least watch me record before his appointment….
But given that Kang Ha-won disliked unfamiliar places and despised unfamiliar people even more, our company—where he knew no one—would be nothing short of a lawless jungle. I couldn’t bring myself to even suggest it.
‘Besides, I’d be recording anyway, so I wouldn’t be able to give him proper attention….’
And today’s recording schedule included Seo Tae-il and Nam Da-down as well.
‘Seo Tae-il would be fine, but Nam Da-down? Absolutely not.’
Defining him as merely an “extrovert” would itself be an insult to extroverts worldwide—Nam Da-down, the excessive talker, the verbal bomb, the runaway conversation train, the talk demon king. I couldn’t possibly subject Kang Ha-won to his presence as an older brother.
If I did, our Ha-won might return home after tonight’s appointment and need to hole up for three days just to recover.
“Ah….”
But Kang Ha-won’s reaction was strange.
‘What’s with that response?’
I expected him to jump up immediately and sling his bag over his shoulder, but instead, Kang Ha-won made an odd expression and started dragging his feet.
“You’re not going?”
“Uh, well… I should go.”
I asked once more just to be sure, and this time he openly showed reluctance.
‘Huh? This is really strange.’
With a faint hope in my heart, I asked Kang Ha-won one more time.
“…What time is your appointment?”
“I have it at eight tonight.”
You arrived at two o’clock and it’s only four now?
“Where’s the appointment?”
“…Konkuk University area.”
But we’re in Mapo right now…?
Sensing my suspicious gaze, Kang Ha-won began rambling about things I hadn’t even asked.
“No, well, Mom prepared some side dishes and I need to deliver them quickly… and Seoul’s subway and buses get so crowded if you time it wrong, and with the crowds and all. Plus, it’s more comfortable to arrive early and wait rather than rush and be flustered arriving late, and stuff….”
An appointment at eight in the evening in the Konkuk University area, yet Kang Ha-won came to his older brother’s Mapo dormitory at two in the afternoon just to deliver some side dishes?
Given Kang Ha-won’s usual mindset—where even going to the mart in front of his house required tremendous resolve—this was impossible. Which meant there was only one reason he’d accept such an inefficient schedule.
“Then….”
“…?”
I asked Ha-won cautiously, holding onto a faint hope—just the smallest possibility.
“We have plenty of time before the appointment anyway…. Want to watch your brother record? I’ll show you around the company.”
Did he want to spend time with me? Was that why he came instead of Mom?
Before my debut, we were always together.
Unlike me, who could spend my time busily with the other members at the dormitory, Ha-won—who was always cooped up at home without me—probably felt my absence more keenly.
“Well….”
And as if to prove my suspicion correct, Kang Ha-won nodded eagerly, hitting the back of his own head repeatedly in response to my question, which I’d asked half-expecting rejection.
“Yeah, sure then.”
Ah, what a cute kid.
How could I not adore him?
The warmth leaking from the corners of my mouth was impossible to hide, and my cheeks ached from smiling.
* * *
“Hello!”
“Oh, Ha-jin. Hello.”
“This is my younger sibling!”
“Oh? Ah, well hello!”
“H-hello….”
“Well, take care!”
Kang Ha-jin, who had burst into the Planning Team Office without any particular reason and abruptly introduced his younger sibling, cheerfully greeted everyone again as he exited. His footsteps ahead were unusually light as he thought, ‘Where should we go next?’
Kang Ha-won, who had just stepped into an entertainment company building for the first time in his life, was being forcibly introduced to every employee he made eye contact with, starting from the security guard at the first-floor entrance. He grabbed the back of his brother’s neck.
And whispered in a dark voice near his ear.
“…Stop it, stop. Please stop. What, how many people are you planning to drag me around to meet…? Are you planning to introduce me to everyone in this building?”
“Why not? The company people are fine.”
“They’re not fine. They’re not fine!”
“Tch. I just wanted to show off my younger sibling a bit.”
“That’s exactly why—why are you showing me off at your company?”
When Ha-won opened his eyes wide and expressed his opposition, Ha-jin grumbled but fell silent. After that, he didn’t deliberately approach people to introduce them—only greeting those he happened to pass by coincidentally. And even with those he did greet, he no longer forced introductions of himself.
Rather, whenever someone showed interest in Ha-won, he skillfully redirected the conversation and naturally extricated himself from the situation!
‘When we were younger, even if I said I didn’t like it, he’d push his own desires at least once or twice….’
Ha-won continued following Ha-jin for quite a while longer. As the surroundings quieted, he finally began to notice his environment. Stepping into the elevator after passing through the hallway, Ha-won saw Ha-jin’s music video playing on the monitor hanging on the wall, and he newly recognized that this place was his brother’s agency.
‘…Did he grow taller?’
He was always wearing that red cape, getting photographed by a driver in the morning, and winking while wearing some kind of terrible white fuzzy hat—so he hadn’t really noticed. But his brother, whom he was seeing after a long time, definitely seemed much taller and more solid than before.
He was always whining via text about needing to manage his diet and exercise, and the results were definitely showing.
“Hey, look at this. Your brother’s music video is playing here.”
“I know, I’ve seen it.”
“It’s awesome, right? Did you like our music video? Or did you subscribe to the AiTube channel?”
“Why would I subscribe to your stuff?”
He had.
Since the Miro Maze days, he’d liked every video his brother appeared in, and “Today’s Kairos,” which was posted on the official Kairos account, had been Ha-won’s longtime companion.
But Kang Ha-won played dumb and pretended not to know. For some reason, he felt like if his brother found out he was always looking up information about him, he’d get way too full of himself.
“Come on, seriously. This is too much, way too much. Here I am working so hard to earn money, and my younger sibling won’t even hit the like button….”
“…Huh? Ha-jin?”
Just then, someone stepped into the elevator where the two had been alone. A burly middle-aged man with a distinctly different presence from the employees they’d just encountered greeted Ha-jin warmly. Ha-jin responded with a respectful bow.
“Oh, hello! Where are you headed?”
“Down to the underground parking lot. By the way, that chocolate you brought back was delicious. My kid absolutely loved it.”
“You told them Uncle Ha-jin bought it for you, right? You should have mentioned it.”
“I did. Thanks to that citrus chocolate, you’ve climbed all the way up to fifth place on my nephew’s uncle ranking.”
“Nice. Tae-hyun’s been dethroned.”
I couldn’t quite grasp what they were talking about, but judging by how comfortably they conversed, they seemed more than just casual acquaintances. Not wanting to intrude awkwardly, I deliberately kept my eyes fixed on the monitor mounted on the wall. That’s when the man spotted Ha-won and gave Ha-jin a meaningful look.
“And who might this be…? They look familiar somehow.”
“Oh, just an acquaintance of mine. I had a recording session today, so they came along.”
“I see. Say, you’re not an entertainer, are you? That mask suits you well.”
“Just a regular college student. I’m too self-conscious to ever dream of being a celebrity. You’ll have to settle for me, sir.”
“That so? What a shame. Feel free to stop by anytime~”
“I’ll make sure to bring them by often. …Oh, but we need to head down now. We’ll get going! Please, go ahead!”
“Ah, sure, sure. Good work~.”
Ha-jin glossed over the introduction of Ha-won once again and led them out of the elevator. The awkwardness had been building, so the timely opening of the elevator doors felt like a godsend.
Ha-won let out a quiet sigh of relief and hurried after his older brother down the hallway.
“But who was that? They seemed like someone pretty important.”
“Who, that person just now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Our CEO.”
What?
“The representative of our entertainment agency. Han Se-won. You saw him briefly during our final live broadcast, remember?”
At the revelation of such an impossibly high-ranking position, Ha-won’s mind momentarily short-circuited.
The moment his mental circuits rebooted, Ha-won grabbed Ha-jin by the collar again in a panic.
“―Ack!”
“Wait, so, right now, just now, you, I mean…!”
Did I just completely blow off your CEO!?
Exasperated by his brother’s characteristically extreme and inconsistent logic, Ha-won demanded an explanation. Ha-jin simply looked confused about what the problem was.
“What? You said it was burdensome, didn’t you?”
“You’re supposed to introduce me properly to the agency representative! When did I ever tell you not to introduce me!? I just said don’t drag me along to people who have nothing to do with this…!”
“Ugh, why do your standards keep flip-flopping? If you’re going to stick with ‘acquaintance,’ then do that. If you’re going to introduce me as your younger sibling, then do that. Pick one or the other. This is discrimination in self-introductions.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…! What kind of lunatic introduces their own younger sibling to their company CEO as just an acquaintance!?”
“This one right here. What are you going to do about it?”
Maturity? Fat chance.
Kang Ha-jin was simply Kang Ha-jin.
In the end, with the recording studio door just steps away, Ha-jin and Ha-won grappled with each other, grabbing shoulders and collars as they bickered fiercely. Their argument touched on countless topics, but mostly devolved into pointless exchanges like “When are you finally going to grow up?” versus “I’m plenty mature as is.”
Eventually, their quarrel pierced through the recording studio’s thick soundproofing and leaked inside.
“What’s all this noise…. Huh? Is that my nephew?”
“Ha-jin’s here? But who’s that next to him?”
“I don’t know? They’re fighting, so is it Tae-hyun?”
“…? I’m right here, though?”
“…Then who is that guy grappling with our Ha-jin?”
Seo Tae-il and Nam Da-down from Yupia, along with Seo Tae-hyun and Lee Do-ha from Kairos, witnessed the remarkable scene unfold—they’d been having a casual small talk before the recording session to warm up their voices.
“Ah.”
“?”
Lee Do-ha, who stood tallest and thus peered down through the narrow window beside the Recording Studio door to identify the person brawling with Ha-jin, spoke up.
“Looks like Ha-jin’s younger sibling.”
“Your younger sibling? Did you adopt another son, hyung?”
“I only have one son.”
“You’re not even married, so why are you saying something so ridiculous?”
At the foolish banter from the senior members of Yupia, Seo Tae-hyun let out an exasperated sigh and clarified.
“Not his adopted son—Ha-jin’s actual blood sibling.”
“Ah.”
Only then did the two seniors, who seemed just as thoughtless as Ha-jin himself, nod in understanding.
But immediately after, they snapped their heads back up with renewed curiosity.
“Ha-jin’s blood sibling!?”
“You had a younger sibling!??”
The gleam in their eyes was that of hyenas who’d just spotted something fascinating!

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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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