Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 376

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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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376. Insomnia Destruction Project (3)
“I’m enlisting in the Military.”
It was Gong Seok’s opening statement, delivered with his already-short hair freshly buzzed down to the scalp.
“I was originally planning to go right after Miro Maze wrapped, but honestly, I’m running late. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but since I have to go anyway, I figured I’d just do it sooner rather than later.”
Gong Seok rubbed his newly shorn head awkwardly as he spoke. Perhaps uncomfortable with how much we kept staring, he pulled on the baseball cap he’d brought and smiled, but somehow the atmosphere grew somber regardless.
I wasn’t sure what Lee Do-ha was thinking, but I felt depressed.
‘Damn it. The Military….’
Unfortunately, if my knowledge of the future was accurate, there wouldn’t be peaceful reunification for the next ten years or so—and that was what frustrated me most. If that future was my future, and my future meant ending up enlisting, then the words I’d been about to say simply evaporated.
As I sat there glumly chugging iced tea, Lee Do-ha beside me, who’d been just as depressed with his hands clasped together, finally spoke.
“When you come back from service, will you be returning to us?”
It was as pointless as discussing discharge from someone who hadn’t even enlisted yet, but Gong Seok seemed to grasp the real meaning behind Lee Do-ha’s question.
Gong Seok, who’d been quietly staring down at his teacup, slowly shook his head.
“Hmm…. No. I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”
Gong Seok was twenty-three this year.
Even if he started preparing for debut right now, considering the average age of recent rookie idols, he was on the older side. It felt strange to call this age—when he should be at his freshest—”late,” but that was the reality.
‘In an industry where the standard contract period is seven years, factoring in military service…. Twenty-three is practically the last line.’
And at that very last line, Gong Seok was enlisting.
Since it was late June now, he’d be twenty-five when discharged. It was essentially the same as giving up on an idol debut, and Lee Do-ha’s expression darkened rapidly.
Seeing that expression—whether frightened or just reading the mood—Gong Seok quickly waved his hand and added more.
“It’s not that I’m giving up on singing. It’s just that I haven’t even graduated yet, and teaching these kids has made me realize I’m still not quite ready to teach anyone properly, so….”
“….”
“I’m going to the Military to…. clear my head and think things through slowly.”
Lee Do-ha and I nodded silently at Gong Seok’s words. While I felt disappointed, whatever choice he made was ultimately his life, and it wasn’t my place to interfere.
I simply grasped both of Gong Seok’s hands the way a grandmother would hold her grandson’s, and spoke with genuine sincerity.
“Hyung. When you get there, the younger soldiers will try to act all tough as your seniors. I know because I’ve done group projects with you, but honestly, you don’t need to worry about that kind of thing at all.
“…Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks.”
“But don’t let yourself look easy to push around. The moment you look pushover-ish, the junior soldiers might try to mess with you. You’ve got decent physique and stamina from your trainee days anyway, right? Just aim for the middle. Middle. Don’t try too hard, but don’t slack off either. Just make it look like you’re working hard enough. That way you won’t get cursed at and things’ll be easier later.”
“Really? Me?”
“If it’s something you have to do anyway, always volunteer first, do it right, and do it precisely. Everyone knows you’re thorough, so you’ll handle that fine naturally…. But whatever doesn’t need doing, or anything that might leave you injured afterward, skip it no matter what. Health comes first. Got it?”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
“Try to shower quickly and secure personal time no matter what. When you get there, memorize your name and service number first—your name especially. Absolutely your name. There’s always some idiot who’ll mess with you over it. Especially with a name like Gong Seok.”
“Yeah. Right?”
“The moment someone says ‘Private Gong Seok,’ there’ll definitely be some immature bastards going ‘Why is it empty when there’s a person here?’ giggling like idiots, but don’t react. If you react, you lose.”
“Okay. Got it….”
“If you mention you were a vocal trainer and idol trainee in your unit, they’ll definitely make you do singing and dancing showcases like crazy, right? Better to do trot or girl group songs instead of ballads—popular stuff that everyone knows and finds fun. But if you’re too good, there’ll be crazy bastards making you perform the whole time you’re there, so in that case, just do it moderately….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Ah, like this.
Before I knew it, I just stopped.
Gong Seok’s question from across the table—”Hey Ha-jin, did you serve in the military?”—and Lee Do-ha’s sharp glare from beside me struck simultaneously. I hurriedly cleared my throat and scrambled to salvage the situation.
“…They said to cut things appropriately, you know. The military thing, that… my older brother.”
“Ha-jin, you don’t have any other siblings besides your younger sibling, right?”
“…A cousin.”
I’d dodged the question outright, but the naive Gong Seok simply nodded with an “I see” and moved on. Lee Do-ha, who rarely gave me such scrutiny, stared at me with hollow eyes. I had the sinking feeling that if Ji Su-ho or Lee Yu-gun had been here, I’d have gotten thoroughly chewed out on the way home. So I quietly shut my mouth.
In the atmosphere that had somehow grown more somber than before, Lee Do-ha finally steered the conversation back to the original topic.
“Anyway, I came today because I wanted to ask you about Si-woo.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Right.”
Gong Seok, belatedly remembering the true purpose of this gathering, nodded. Since we’d already conveyed all our concerns over the phone, he immediately began sharing what he knew.
“Well, I’ve only heard bits and pieces from drinking with Si-woo occasionally. I don’t know anything for certain, but… his father’s death anniversary is definitely in July.”
“Ah….”
“Remember? That was right after our Miro Maze ended, and you guys got about two weeks off. Si-woo contacted me first and asked if I wanted to go together, so we went. I remember him saying his father had been ill all spring and passed away just before the heat set in.”
As expected, Jeong Si-u’s trauma was beginning to surface again, and it was indeed connected to his father. Lee Do-ha also exhaled a small sigh in understanding.
“If it’s his father’s death anniversary, it would definitely affect him.”
“Well, I didn’t live in the dormitory with you guys like that. So I don’t really know how Si-woo was during that period or anything like that… but it seemed like he was drinking a lot back then. He seemed to want to be around people as much as possible.”
“Oh, then maybe….”
Right around that time, I remembered Jeong Si-u going to some peer gathering and getting all his peers drunk in drinking games. That’s why he’d skipped the first Kairos team-building event….
It occurred to me that this might have been a trace of him wanting to spend time mindlessly in a crowded place, and my heart grew heavy.
‘Wait. July? July?’
With a sinking feeling, I furrowed my brow and asked Gong Seok.

“July is when that hyung’s birthday is, isn’t it? July 4th.”
“Oh, right. Fortunately, it seemed like Si-woo got to spend his last birthday with his father before he passed. Of course, Si-woo might find his birthday less welcome because of that….”
Gong Seok finished speaking with a bitter smile.
I gazed out the window with a deep sigh. The company building already had celebratory advertisements promoting Jeong Si-u’s birthday glittering away.
A life where his father’s death anniversary arrives every time his own birthday comes around.
I couldn’t claim to fully understand that pain, but my heart felt heavier than ever.
“…Should I just pretend I don’t know?”
I earnestly sought Gong Seok’s advice.
No matter how much I loved to poke my nose into everything, this wasn’t something I could easily touch no matter how much I thought about it.
Gong Seok also answered with a somewhat contemplative expression.
“Well… I don’t think that’s necessarily the wrong approach. But Si-woo is perceptive, so he might notice that you’re pretending not to know.”
“Ugh, that’s true too…. Man, this is a difficult hyung.”
Once I knew, there was no unknowing it. The fact that I’d found out was bound to be discovered eventually. I slammed my forehead onto the table with a thud. The cold marble surface briefly soothed my throbbing head.
“I need to avoid a second ‘You-Need-Me’ incident at all costs….”
“Huh? What incident?”
“There is one. The infamous Jeong Si-u slip-of-the-tongue incident….”
Then someone above my head countered my words with a languid laugh.
“Isn’t it the Kang Ha-jin leader abuse-of-power incident?”
“Abuse of power? What are you talking about? I’ve lived my whole life in a subordinate position….”
“Ah. So everything that happened back then was all my fault?”
“To be honest, Si-woo did mess up first. I just asked a question, but he just… what? He belittled my intentions, my sincerity, what? He just…”
“Ah. I see.”
“…Sir?”
But why was the rebuttal coming from the perspective of the person involved?
I slowly lifted my head, briefly doubting my own ears, and saw Gong Seok across from me laughing awkwardly—ha ha—before silently taking a sip of his tea. Lee Do-ha, sitting beside me, was casting his gaze into the distance and letting out empty coughs.
The hand of ‘that person’ came to rest on my shoulder.
Not from the front, not from the side, but from behind.
“So when Ha-jin said you were at fault back then, was that just to smooth things over without really meaning it?”
The person directly involved—Jeong Si-u.
“Ha ha… w-well, sir. Didn’t you have an advertisement shoot today? I thought you’d be coming to Seoul late at night…”
“It finished early. Why, did you miss me?”
“Of course. If I don’t see your face once a day now, my eyesight literally gets worse in real time. I can’t cleanse my eyes without looking at your face.”
Jeong Si-u, now accustomed even to the nonsense pouring from my mouth, laughed lightly and sat down next to Gong Seok. It seemed the two of them had been meeting frequently without my knowing, as Gong Seok greeted Jeong Si-u with a more comfortable attitude than before.
“Si-woo, what do you want to drink? Should I order you some coffee?”
“No, I drank a lot during the shoot. Did you already get your head shaved? I told you I’d go with you.”
“I’ll have to get it done one more time the day before anyway, so we can go together then. And you don’t have to come. Everyone goes to the military, so what’s the big deal.”
Between the two same-aged hyungs having their casual conversation, only Lee Do-ha and I were in guilty mode.
‘But I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Is this a mistake? Is it? I’m close with Seok too. What’s the problem with just meeting Seok?
My momentary intimidation faded, and I recalled that I had absolutely no reason to voluntarily take the submissive position in the current situation. Besides, I didn’t even know how much of our conversation Jeong Si-u had heard.
If worse came to worst, I could just claim we met to see each other’s faces before Seok went to the military.
‘Since I’m already caught, might as well be shameless about it.’
With that thought, the moment I lifted my head, Jeong Si-u rested his beautiful face on his delicate hand and asked.
“So, Ha-jin and Do-ha.”
“…”
“You’ve been investigating me lately, I hear. Did you get everything you wanted to know?”
“I apologize, sir.”
“For what exactly?”
“We were wrong, sir, at least…”
What kind of person is Shin, that liar from our house, that he knows everything like this?
With the thought that escaping from that palm again seemed impossible, I flashed my brightest, most innocent smile at Jeong Si-u.
“Stop with the eye smile.”
“Yes, sir.”
…It wasn’t very bright after all.
My apologies.

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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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