Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 382

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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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382. Idol Weight Class Clash (1)
【[Photo] Do-ha of Kairos, ‘Uncontrollable Brute Strength’】
【Do-ha of Kairos, “Ever seen such an adorable Hulk?”】
【Kairos tears through the athletic uniform… ★ idols’ varied ‘athletic uniform’ commute】
“…Yeah, well. I’m used to it by now.”
Su-ho lowered the tablet he’d been holding, his expression one of enlightened resignation. Then he turned to Do-ha, who was being fitted with a fresh athletic uniform by Coordinator Noona, and asked.
“Do-ha, did you… not realize the size didn’t fit until you got up on stage?”
Do-ha finally adjusted to wearing the properly-sized uniform, rubbing his now-loose shoulders as he answered.
“Well… whenever I wear something like this, the shoulders never fit right, so… I thought it was the same this time.”
“I see… so that’s how it was….”
Su-ho’s pupils trembled with pathos. A rookie group that hadn’t even debuted three years ago kept creating legendary blunders every time they stepped onto an official stage—he seemed to be wrestling with how to come to terms with this reality.
Watching Su-ho, who looked like our father bearing an impossibly heavy burden on his shoulders, I reached over and patted his shoulder with hollow comfort.
“Give up, hyung. It’s easier if you give up.”
“That’s not something you should be saying…”
“…Ahem.”
So my comfort didn’t help. My apologies.
“Kairos, you’re ready to enter!”
Just as I was enduring Su-ho’s piercing gaze, a staff member from the production team approached and announced our entrance order. Su-ho, who had been sighing heavily, immediately switched into work mode, placing his hands on his hips as he repeatedly cautioned us.
“Go out there and do well, and the staff will be standing by nearby the whole time, so if you need anything, let us know right away. You can be funny, but please don’t get hurt, okay? Especially you, Eun-chan—don’t let your competitive spirit make you lose your mind.”
“Yes, sir…”
“Your fans have been waiting since 4 AM this morning. Since we’ll be filming for over ten hours, it’s going to get boring and exhausting for them, so interact with your fans a lot, okay? You understand?”
“Yes!”
With that spirited response, we followed the production staff into the gymnasium. The roar of the audience erupted as they spotted us, and the gazes of the idol groups already inside turned toward us as well.
Tae-hyun, standing beside me, had already spotted familiar faces and was exchanging greetings with nods and barely audible whispers.
“Man, I want to go home…”
I feel you, buddy.
The beginning of an exhausting day.
* * *
“How long have you been here? Are the seats comfortable? Not too hard on you?”
The moment we entered, we headed straight for the fan section where Destiny was gathered.
For junior groups like us, it’s common to either share a fan section with other groups or not get one at all, but fortunately, Destiny had managed to secure a pretty decent spot and were clustered together nicely.
And the reason we could do that was probably…
“Oh, is this the And With U section? And over there is the Idea section? Everyone’s gathered here!”
…we’d quietly hitched a ride on the influence of our reliable seniors.
Endway, now in their fourth or fifth year, was one thing, but I was curious why Upia was even participating. From what I gathered, Nam Da-down, the blue chip of the entertainment world, was making a special appearance as an idol MC for this event.
‘Huh? Yellow team uniforms and Nam Da-down hosting a sports competition…?’
For some reason, vivid memories from a few years back were surfacing, but it was probably just my imagination.
I felt goosebumps threatening to spread across my forearms and hastily shook them off. In any case, I needed to keep my wits about me today.
“Our fan manager will hand out breakfast later, so even if you’re hungry, please hang in there for a bit…”
“Waaaaaah―!”
I was about to tell Destiny that I’d share breakfast with them later since they hadn’t been able to eat while waiting, when suddenly an enormous roar erupted from beside me. I glanced over, wondering if Endway had appeared, but the source of the cheering wasn’t from the Miro block—it was from the adjacent section.
While there were no names written separately on the fan seating, I could immediately guess which block it was just by looking.
“Min-seok! Cha Min-seok!”
“What’s Jung-hyuk doing with the finger hearts? Is he crazy?”
“The kids’ purple team uniforms are so cute?”
It was the Rene Block—the section that occupied the largest share of the audience seating, home to Lanion and Sphere.
As I turned to look at the commotion, Cha Min-seok and the members of Lanion, dressed in purple team uniforms, were walking toward us.
“Wow… it really is nice having a major entertainment company backing you.”
“Right? They probably have more teams performing anyway.”
The only real advantage of this music broadcast was that with so many performers, individual microphones weren’t being worn.
So I whispered to Jeong Si-u without worry, and he shrugged back in agreement. Still, we were thorough enough to mix in some ventriloquism just in case our lip movements were caught on fan cameras.
‘Rene seems to have about 4 or 5 teams performing, including girl groups….’
And that could be even more if you included the special MCs.
The reason Lanion’s fan section was larger than ours wasn’t necessarily because they were bigger than us—it was largely due to the power of their agency itself.
‘I don’t really want to play this ranking game….’
Still, somehow the feeling was a bit subtle.
Since the topic had come up, I slowly surveyed the gymnasium to get a sense of today’s performers. It seemed like many senior teams with high seniority and recognition were doing overseas tours this year, so aside from a few teams like Endway and Sphere, there were quite a few rookie teams I’d never even heard of participating.
‘Looks like Storm Header and Winter Tail have arrived too. …Maybe I should give Tae-ha a quick greeting.’
I discreetly confirmed the location of Winter Tail, with whom we’d briefly connected through Touch High, and as I continued surveying the gymnasium, I could see far more people had arrived than when we’d first entered.
It seemed like the right time, so I called together the members who were now almost remotely filming speed quizzes and charades with Destiny.
“We’ll talk to Destiny again later—let’s go make the rounds and greet everyone.”
Unnecessary socializing with other idol groups was something to be cautious about, but regardless, we were rookies among rookies.
In this era where we filmed challenges with several teams every single day whenever we did music broadcasts, a wide network was both poison and a rope that could expand our recognition.
Moreover, this broadcast was almost the first opportunity to see Kairos bonding with other groups since the year-end stage.
Most fans probably just wanted us to have fun among ourselves, but there would definitely be some who were curious about ‘which groups our kids would be close with.’
“Hey, you guys over there.”
And fortunately, the group we’d greet first was already decided long ago.
“We came to steal a challenge from you.”
As a cheerful, playful voice came from behind, another massive cheer erupted from among Destiny.
I turned around to see a familiar face with calm blue-black dyed hair giving a salute-like greeting with one hand.
“How’s everyone been?”
“…Won-ho!”
“Hey, hey.”
It was Kim Won-ho, who had successfully debuted in June as the first idol group under Lime Entertainment, where Sarin was the representative artist.
* * *
“Introduce yourselves, our members.”
“Ah, hello….”
“No way. Don’t lie. Kim Won-ho is the leader? Kim Won-ho is the oldest?”
“Why would that be a lie? It’s true.”
Kim Won-ho looked up at me with a hurt expression, but he immediately burst out laughing, clearly knowing it was a joke. However, since I wasn’t joking, I maintained my serious expression and looked at Kim Won-ho’s group members with genuine sincerity.
“Is he really the eldest member? So he takes the lead during practice too? He’s the one who shouts the chant during greetings?”
“Yes? Yes, yes…. Won-ho hyung is amazing! He taught us all our choreography…! And for this new routine, he basically came up with almost all the ideas…!”
“Wow…. So Kim Won-ho is the eldest. Kim Won-ho is the leader!”
“Hey, stop making such a fuss. You’re embarrassing us in front of their group members.”
“But isn’t it strange? Kim Won-ho’s the leader, and you’re telling me you don’t find that weird?”
Kim Won-ho had successfully debuted under the name Phase back in early June when we were all frantically busy.
I’d been so caught up in everything that I’d only sent him a quick congratulations message back then, so today was the first time I was hearing the full story and being introduced to his members properly.
Up until I heard we could appear together on the variety show, I’d just felt excited and happy about it. But watching Kim Won-ho carry himself so maturely as the eldest and leader in front of members who all looked so innocent and gentle….
“Ugh! This is so weird! I’m getting goosebumps! Kim Won-ho, what are you doing being the eldest member, what are you doing being the leader!?”
“What does he think I am, really?”
“Just leave him be. He’s always like that.”
Lee Yu-gun shook his head and pushed me back. Then Kim Won-ho draped an arm across Lee Yu-gun’s shoulder and greeted him warmly.
“How have you been? I heard you’ve been absolutely killing it with your dancing lately.”
“That’s the only thing I’m good at, so I might as well do it well.”
“You said you’d send me an album but never did….”
“Buy it with your own money. I need to send my tigers to college.”
“Man, you’re stingy.”
Then Kim Won-ho raised his eyebrows and started rummaging through the backpack he was carrying.
“But I still brought something. Everyone take one as a commemorative gift.”
What he pulled out was their first debut album, complete with their signatures.
On the album cover, Kim Won-ho and his members stood against a beach backdrop that radiated summer vibes, gazing up at the sky with refreshing clarity.
Still reeling from the shock that Kim Won-ho was the eldest member and leader of a group, I quickly accepted the album.
“Oh, Kim Won-ho. You’re looking sharp. You’ve lost some weight too~”
“Are you going to keep teasing me like that in front of the kids?”
“Oh, now that you’re a leader, you’re really putting on airs~”
“Why does this hyung keep getting more immature?”
“We’re wondering the same thing.”
While I kept teasing Kim Won-ho, I carefully read through the tracklist inside the album and checked out the cover photos. In the credits for the title track, I saw Sarin’s name listed as a composer and lyricist.
Though he’d had to leave Miro Maze, seeing Kim Won-ho with my own eyes making a fresh start in a new place felt incredibly refreshing.
“Anyway, hyungs, you guys need to film a challenge with us later. We’ve only been debuting for less than two months, and we don’t know anyone here yet. Help me save face. My kids are really shy around new people.”
“Of course. Let’s film it in the hallway during dinner later. You don’t really have senior members from your agency, right? If you feel awkward being alone, just stick with us.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Yeah. Nam Da-down hyung and the Endway sunbaes are coming too, so go say hi to them.”
“Huh? Nam Da-down sunbae is coming?”
“Yeah, he’s the special MC today.”
“Ugh, I have trauma from the sports day that Nam Da-down hosted….”
The moment I heard about Nam Da-down, Kim Won-ho said exactly what I was thinking, and I burst out laughing despite myself. No matter how I thought about it, that sports day had definitely left everyone with a serious trauma.
“Hey guys, is it okay if the hyungs sit with you?”
“Yes? Yes, yes! That’s great…!”
“C-can we really sit together?”
“…hyung, can I just take one photo with Do-ha sunbae later…?”
“….”
At Kim Won-ho’s question, the Phase members fidgeted timidly with barely audible voices.
Whether it was because they were rookies or still young, they all had round faces and spoke in round, gentle tones—the kind that made me think Kim Won-ho must have had to step up as leader even though he was the youngest among them.
I was watching them with a warm smile, thinking they were rather endearing as younger members, when Seo Tae-hyun—who had his share of shyness—activated his social self and opened his mouth with a benevolent smile.
“Eighteen years old? That makes you the same age as Ha-ru. I hope we can all get along well. Right?”
“Huh, yes…! Th-thank you so much!”
“…? Huh? Th-thank you?”
…Something felt off about that reaction. Were they okay?
I was watching Kim Won-ho’s members with concern, thinking they seemed overly nervous, when suddenly I felt an intense heat radiating from beside me. I turned to see Ju Eun-chan—who served as shyness number two, pressed right against my side—practically shooting laser beams from his eyes.
“…What’s wrong with you now?”
“Eighteen…. Same age as Ha-ru….”
Ju Eun-chan muttered something to himself, turning the thought over in his mind.
Then he glanced once at Kim Won-ho’s members, once at Kim Won-ho, once at us, and once at the other idol groups in the gymnasium, before suddenly grabbing the hand of Dan Ha-ru—shyness number three, who’d been sitting quietly beside him in a daze—and jumping to his feet.
“Ha-ru!”
“Huh…?”
“Let’s make a friend…!”
“What, did you bring your little sibling to a kids’ cafe?”
The competitive fire in Ju Eun-chan’s eyes had transformed into a blazing determination to “make friends for the youngest member.”

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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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