Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 380

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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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380. A Dream on a Sweltering Summer Day (2)
There was a brief commotion when the youngest members decided to light birthday candles in a bundle, but in the end, Si-woo’s birthday party was a success.
Seeing our clumsy preparations, Si-woo was momentarily flustered before approaching with a smile and blowing out the candles. We all spread a table in the living room and set up a proper birthday feast. The cheesecake sitting alone on the table—which had become excessively health-conscious due to recent dietary management—looked particularly out of place.
“…Seven guys rushing at it, and one cheesecake is gone in what, ten minutes?”
There was a cake. Now there isn’t.
Even though it didn’t seem like we ate that much, seven spoons lay scattered across the empty cake plate where not a single crumb could be found.
You might wonder why spoons instead of forks or chopsticks—the first reason was that none of us living in the dormitory had bothered to buy forks, and the second reason was that since there were only two chopsticks, we’d have twice as much to wash compared to spoons.
As I was touching the edge of my spoon wistfully, Si-woo, the birthday boy himself, pulled out something he’d set beside him.
“Want to eat this too if you’re still hungry? They prepared it at the magazine shoot location today.”
What Si-woo pulled out was another cake box, similar in size to the one we’d bought.
Peeking at the contents inside, I could see it was custom-made—on pure white whipped cream sat purple petal-shaped decorations with the text “Kairos ♡ Handsome Piece Si-woo ♡ Celebration” written across it.
Just as Eun-chan, who loves sweets, and Ha-ru, who secretly had a weakness for these “luxurious treats,” quickly grabbed their spoons, Tae-hyun rapidly covered the cake box and shook his head.
“No way. Do you know how many calories are in this cake alone?”
“No way…?”
“….”
“…No. Even if you look at me like that, this is a no! Really, no! Do you know how many calories are in whipped cream…!”
“Really no way…?”
“….”
“…Fine! Just cut one slice and share it. Nothing more than that, really no. Absolutely not. How much time do we have left until our comeback? And besides, Si-woo brought this.”
Soft-hearted Tae-hyun, who was strict with himself but couldn’t be that way with others, once again surrendered to the intense stares of the youngest members.
However, at the mention of “Si-woo brought this,” even the youngest members seemed to feel a pang of conscience, and their hands, which were about to scoop up cake with their spoons, hesitated for a moment. Then Si-woo, who had already finished his portion and set his spoon down long ago, took the cake out of the box himself.
“It’s fine. I don’t really eat whipped cream cake anyway. The youngest guys are working hard trying to get me to sleep these days. One day of eating is okay.”
Reassured by his words, Eun-chan and Ha-ru picked up their spoons again. But even then, the two of them put their heads together and deliberated for a while about “what counts as one allowed slice,” until Yu-gun next to them simply cut out roughly a quarter slice, and the situation was finally resolved.
I stood up with sparkling eyes, gently pinching Ha-ru’s chubby cheeks as he took a big spoonful of whipped cream cake.
“Let the youngest guys finish what’s left, and we should start cleaning up, yeah? Go wash up, hyung. The makeup must be uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, go wash up quickly. We’ll clean up here.”
“Okay, got it. But….”
Si-woo stood up obediently, but his eyes swept around the living room with a somewhat empty look. I could tell he was searching for something, but I deliberately pretended not to notice and hurried him along to go wash up, pushing him gently on the back.
‘He must be wondering where the mattress and everything went.’
Until last night, the living room had been filled with a banner that read “Getting Si-woo to Sleep” (sponsored by Content Team 3), the mattress Si-woo would sleep on (sponsored by Eun-seok), filming setup for the live broadcast, and all sorts of sleep-inducing tools to help Si-woo rest.
And I had cleaned all of it up before Si-woo arrived today.
The banner had been retrieved by the content team, and the mattress had been moved to the new dormitory we’d be moving to soon. The live broadcast setup was all stuffed in my room and I’d pull it back out soon, but the important thing was that our attitude today was slightly different from yesterday.
‘We’ve already tried every method we could to get him to sleep, so there’s nothing more to do. The final touch should be decorated something special.’
I confirmed that Si-woo had completely entered the bathroom and closed the door, then turned around. I exchanged a glance with Do-ha as I looked over the now-cleared living room.
“Should we start laying it out now that we’ve cleaned up?”
“Yeah.”
* * *
‘Aren’t we doing it today?’
Though it had only been a week, an evening without pushing sleep-inducing herbal medicine or insisting on half-body baths with bath additives felt strangely like it had been ages.
The warm, fuzzy feeling I’d experienced receiving birthday wishes earlier suggested tonight might be different from usual, but….
Still, the thought that the 【Eldest Brother Sleep Challenge】 might end in such a half-hearted manner left him with a peculiar sense of regret.
“Oh, Si-woo, you’re up. Come on over!”
“I don’t like the middle. Can’t I sleep at the end?”
“Just lie down already. You always roll somewhere when you’re at the end.”
“Whose pillow is this?”
“Oh, mine. Ha-ru, do you have a blanket?”
“Yes, I have this one.”
“…?”
Si-woo, who had changed into his usual pajamas and stepped out, tilted his head at the commotion drifting from the living room.
Wondering what on earth was happening, he made his way to the living room only to find the floor—which had been empty just moments ago—now completely covered with several blankets of unknown origin, with the members sprawled out across them, each claiming their own spot.
“What is this….”
“What do you mean ‘what.’ It’s today’s challenge.”
As Si-woo stood bewildered, trying to process the situation, Ha-jin suddenly appeared from behind, playfully tucking his pillow under Si-woo’s arm.
“The ultimate final measure: putting the eldest brother to sleep.”
“…?”
“It’s what we call the military—no, the school trip meta. You lie down too, hyung. Your spot is in the middle.”
And with that, Ha-jin simply flopped down at the remaining end without hesitation!
He’d thought the living room felt noticeably spacious once all the luggage was cleared out, but now with six large, tall men lying in a row across the floor, it somehow felt cramped.
Si-woo stared silently at the empty space in the middle that was supposedly his spot.
To be perfectly honest, he had never once in his life slept with someone like this. Not even when they’d gone to Tae-hyun’s place in Gangwon Province last time.
“Ah… because of the move, all the beds that were in our room got transferred to the other dormitory or taken out. Ha-jin said since things have come to this anyway, we should all sleep together tonight.”
Tae-hyun, who was lying in the spot next to Si-woo, added an explanation as Si-woo remained frozen in place.
Only then did Si-woo carefully make his way forward. Passing Do-ha at the far end, stepping over Ha-ru and Eun-chan, he finally reached his spot. Once he settled into the blankets, the space felt surprisingly roomy.
“So we’re turning off the lights? Everyone’s down?”
“We’re not doing a live broadcast tonight?”
“Nope, we’re good. The mood lights were already picked up by the Content Team anyway. We already posted notice that there’s no broadcast tonight. Lights off.”
Darkness returned to the dormitory. Without even the mood lights that had been there before, it felt particularly dim.
Si-woo quietly closed his eyes. The fact that the same darkness enveloped him whether his eyes were open or closed made him feel slightly suffocated.
“…Are you all going to sleep already?”
Then a small flame flickered to life.
It was Eun-chan’s voice from beside him.
“I’m not sleepy yet…. I wanted to chat a bit before falling asleep.”
“What should we talk about? Scary stories?”
“…Not that kind of thing.”
Ha-jin responded naturally to Eun-chan’s voice, and then Tae-hyun, lying on the opposite side, suddenly clapped as if remembering something.
“Oh, that’s right. We might be able to go on that.”
“What?”
“Achaedae. I heard about it from another PD yesterday during filming.”
“…That thing didn’t die and came back alive?”
“…? It was never dead in the first place, so what are you talking about.”
“…Ah, right. It hasn’t been abolished yet, damn.”
At Tae-hyun’s bewildered voice, Ha-jin groaned as if he’d been caught off guard. Then Yu-gun’s unexpected voice burst out.
“What’s an Idol Athletic Championship?”
“Yu-gun, you don’t know?”
“No, I don’t.”
“The Broadcasting Station’s too lazy to plan new holiday specials, so they call up all the idols and make them do some cheap acrobatic show—the ultimate power trip of a broadcast station.”
“…What is that?”
“Idol Athletic Championship. They just gather idols and make them do all sorts of athletic stuff.”
“Then Do-ha hyung should go. He’d sweep them all, hyung.”
“Absolutely not. They don’t even pay appearance fees, and if he gets injured before our comeback trying too hard, who’s responsible? Lee Do-ha, you’re going to be uncoordinated that day. Lose all your athletic ability, understood?”
“Got it.”
The pillow talk that started with the Idol Athletic Championship continued endlessly, one topic flowing into the next like a dream, chaotic and boundless.
From Yu-gun’s part-time job stories, to Do-ha’s episodes from training, to what Tae-hyun felt while filming Boyhood 2….
Trivial yet fascinating stories they rarely had time to share during their busy days now adorned the dark night.
“Si-woo hyung.”
“…Yeah.”
The sparkling light that had been adorning the night suddenly turned toward Si-woo.
It was the youngest member, Dan Ha-ru, who had called out to him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“…Why do you hate piano?”
Whether drunk on sleep or intoxicated by the atmosphere.
Dan Ha-ru asked me in a voice that was dry but not particularly cold. Under normal circumstances, I would have taken it sensitively, but I too seemed to be intoxicated by the early morning air—it didn’t bother me much.
Perhaps thinking about Mother beforehand had served as a preventative vaccine.
“Well….”
As Si-woo trailed off, I felt all the members who had been noisily chattering until moments ago hold their breath.
Yet this silence didn’t irritate Si-woo either.
I clearly understood the difference between them nervously watching their step, unsure how to handle me, and truly understanding and caring for me.
“It’s not that I hate it.”
“Then what?”
“Rather….”
“….”
Rather, I loved it too much—that was the problem.
Si-woo tried to answer that way, but unfortunately, that confession never reached the members.
“…?”
“…Si-woo hyung?”
As no answer came even after waiting for a while, the first to react were Tae-hyun, lying right beside him, and Ha-ru, who had asked the question. They called out to Si-woo just in case, but all that returned was a very steady, languid breathing.
“What, hyung’s asleep? Asleep?”
“Shh…! Don’t, wake him up….”
“Oh, sorry. …But really asleep?”
“He seems to be asleep.”
Ha-jin jolted upright at Si-woo’s words, only to immediately catch the sharp gazes of both Tae-hyun and Yoo Gun simultaneously, forcing him back down. Worried that any sudden movement might wake Si-woo, everyone lowered their voices and slowly rose to their feet.
Not until all the group members had gotten up and confirmed Si-woo lying in the center did they relax.
Si-woo was completely asleep and didn’t stir.
“Damn, he’s really out. So the answer was the Military after all… no, wait. Was it just the training camp meta?”
“We don’t know when hyung might wake up, so let’s stop talking and get some sleep too.”
“…? Ju Eun-chan. Are you crying, by any chance?”
“…I’m not crying. I was just yawning.”
“Hey, hey. Let’s keep it quiet for now. I’m going to turn on a light real quick.”
Click.
At Ha-jin’s signal, a faint glow softly illuminated one corner. The moon-shaped mood lamp that the Content Team had supposedly collected earlier was sitting plainly in Ha-jin’s hand.
“What? Didn’t you say the company took that earlier?”
“Bullshit. Even a little light can interfere with good sleep, you know.”
“So that’s why hyung didn’t do a live broadcast today either? To avoid turning on the lights.”
“Hey, hey. Do-ha. Quick, get the Polaroid camera out. We need to leave evidence before hyung tries to deny this later.”
This was their only chance.
At Ha-jin’s words, spoken with barely suppressed laughter, none of the group members offered any real objection this time—they simply waited quietly for Do-ha to retrieve the camera.
A dark night.
Dan Ha-ru, shielding Si-woo’s eyes with his hand to ensure the moon-shaped mood lamp wouldn’t disturb his sleep, whispered softly as he gazed at the peacefully sleeping Jeong Si-u.
“…Sleep well, hyung.”
Just as I did, may hyung escape the nightmare of guilt, at least for tonight.
That small whisper wrapped around Si-woo’s sleep like a blanket.
* * *
“Si-woo, it looks like our live broadcast will start in about twenty minutes. And before that, we’ll take a few photos to send to the fans.”
Jeong Si-u, who had been stirring warm barley tea in a white mug with a spoon, nodded at the voice calling his name and rose from his seat.
Between his shimmering silver hair, purple eyes adorned with colored contacts moved beautifully. It was an outfit that would spell disaster for an ordinary person, but under the name Jeong Si-u, all this ‘excess’ simply remained beautiful.
“Wow… but Si-woo, can I say just one thing?”
“Sure.”
“You’re really incredibly handsome today.”
It wasn’t mere flattery but genuine admiration that made Si-woo smile faintly as he adjusted the collar of his white silk shirt.
“Really? …Is it because I slept well yesterday?”
“Huh? You slept? Si-woo, did you finally succeed in getting proper sleep?”
“Yes. Success.”
Kairos’s 【Putting the Eldest Hyung to Sleep Challenge】 had become quite the topic of conversation within Miro, so when word spread that Si-woo had finally achieved proper sleep, the staff members around him all congratulated him as if it were their own achievement.
Si-woo recalled this morning’s situation—’eyes opened and it was already morning’—without even knowing when he’d fallen asleep.
-Hyung.
-…?
-Did you sleep well?
Ha-jin’s triumphantly smiling expression had been both irritating and touching.
Having finally experienced a peaceful night for the first time in ages, Si-woo now understood that all the headaches and migraines that had been tormenting him were simply due to sleep deprivation.
This too was something I’d discovered thanks to the ‘light’ I’d found last night.
“Oh, then we should take a photo…. Hmm, should we shoot it briefly in the studio next door?”
“Ah, Hye-sun. That place is….”
When the staff member pointed to the adjacent studio as the shooting spot, Kwon Wook, who had been standing contentedly behind with a paternal smile, suddenly startled and jumped forward.
“That place is a bit…. Is there somewhere else we could use?”
“Oh, really? If not here, then, well….”
My gaze turned toward the studio next door.
The studio, decorated with an atmosphere reminiscent of a luxurious European castle, harmonized perfectly with the outfit I was wearing, but I soon understood why Kwon Wook had stopped me.
“It’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
A beautiful grand piano positioned in the center of the set.
I knew it was Kwon Wook’s consideration—he was aware that I reacted sensitively to pianos—but….
“Let’s shoot here anyway. The piano looks great.”
Still, it was alright now.
It felt like it would be alright.
“Aren’t you going to shoot?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I’ll take it. Just a moment.”
I was no longer afraid to face my own loneliness.
From the black and white keys beneath my fingertips, a beautiful melody continued to flow.

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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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