Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 384

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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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384. Idol Weight Class Clash (3)
And so the situation rewound thirty minutes.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“…Um, well, there…. H-how do I….”
“Oh, I’m, I’m Hui-an.”
“Oh, yes…. W-well, m-my name is Han-gyeol, s-senior.”
“Gasp, oh, y-yes, I s-see….”
“I’m Ju Eun-chan, senior.”
“N-no, well, there’s no n-need to call me s-senior….”
“I think I saw this ten minutes ago.”
With the arrival of Storm Header’s youngest member, everyone’s rapport had been automatically reset to zero.
We weren’t starting from scratch in this idol weight class clash, but after we’d managed to exchange names, ages, years since debut, and even debut stories, it all came crashing down. I felt like this was my moment to step in, but the very reason I couldn’t move so easily was unfolding right before my eyes.
“….”
“….”
“…W-well, the k-kids are really having fun, aren’t they?”
“Oh, y-yes, yes. They r-really are. Thank you for i-inviting us.”
“Thank you, senior. It was fun being together at Touch High last time.”
“Oh, y-yes…. Our youngest is quite shy, but thank you for approaching first….”
“No, well, our team members are similar too…. They’re all kids who only practice in the practice room….”
No matter how I looked at it, it was like parents awkwardly gathering at a cafe next to a kids’ play center where they’d let loose their children.
Phase’s shy youngest member was now practically breathless, clinging tightly behind Kim Won-ho, and even Seo Tae-hyun, who had been relaxed thanks to Kim Won-ho, was straightening his back as he activated his social self.
Well, actually, aside from Seo Tae-hyun, our members didn’t seem to find it particularly awkward.
The problem was Storm Header.
Despite being the most senior group among the three teams here, Storm Header’s members were frozen stiff as if they’d met seniors with a ten-year gap. I’d never seen their debut stage, but I had a feeling they were more nervous now than they were back then.
I nudged Jeong Si-u, who was leisurely blowing kisses at the fan seats beside me.
“…Do something, hyung.”
“Me? Why?”
“It’s awkward.”
“If we keep talking to them, it’ll get more awkward. Won-ho and Do-ha are loosening the mood just fine, so let’s just leave it~”
That’s like telling someone to enjoy their vacation while a cat guards the fish shop.
If I’d been born in a classical mythology world, I would’ve reconciled Heungbu and Nolbu, sent Kongjwi and Patjwi on a family trip—the god of icebreakers, the authority on recreation. Me, Kang Ha-jin, who (…omitted…) and all that—asking me to just endure this silence and stillness was harder than winning the idol weight class championship itself.
‘Still, it should be about time for recording to start soon, so if I can just hold out until then….’
Just as I was thinking that, a sudden announcement suddenly blared from the headquarters booth on one side of the gymnasium.
-Ah, ahem, yes. Thank you all—idols and fans—for joining us at the idol weight class championship today. We know you’ve been waiting since this morning.
“…?”
-We’ve encountered a slight issue with the recording setup, so we’re experiencing a delay in starting. We’re working to resolve it as quickly as possible, so please bear with us~ Idols who wish to go to the waiting room, please inform our staff first before moving~ Thank you~
Well, that’s that.
With the atmosphere suggesting we’d need to wait at least another thirty minutes, I turned my body, which had been resting at an angle, and moved back into the group. No matter how I thought about it, there was no way I could endure another thirty minutes in this suffocating atmosphere.
“Um, well…”
“Hey, Ha-jin, junior~”
“…?”
I was about to say something when a voice called out to me from afar. The voice wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, so I turned my head to see Park Tae-ha from Winter Tail—who had also participated in Touch High with us—waving his hand as he approached.
“Oh, senior. Hello.”
“What’s with the sudden formality? That hurts, between us?”
“Ah… I actually drew a line just now, but you didn’t notice.”
“…Seriously? Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course I’m joking. I was actually planning to come greet you anyway.”
Though our active periods didn’t overlap much, Park Tae-ha possessed both keen intuition and good sense, with a quick grasp of the atmosphere—the type of person I found genuinely comfortable around. He had that older Kim Won-ho vibe, if you will.
Then Jeong Si-u, who had been enjoying a remote conversation with the Destiny members with disinterested eyes until just moments ago, suddenly brightened and approached me.
“Hello, senior. I enjoyed watching you and the members on Touch High.”
“Oh, ah, hello. You’re Si-u, right? Wow, I’m sorry for saying this on first meeting, but you’re genuinely strikingly handsome.”
“I’d probably be handsome even if we’d met before, so feel free to admire freely.”
“Huh? I heard you were friends with Yeon-woo, and your personalities seem a bit similar too.”
Park Tae-ha grasped the hand extended by Jeong Si-u with an easygoing voice and shook it. Si-u, having apparently grasped what kind of person Park Tae-ha was in that brief moment, merely offered a smile with his guard slightly lowered.
Park Tae-ha, who had drawn considerable attention from the group upon his arrival, looked toward the Storm Header members with a cheerful laugh.
“Well, I was trying to head into the waiting room, but I saw some familiar faces gathered here, so I came to say hi. We had fun during our Touch High time, didn’t we?”
“Ah, yes, yes. Senior, hello…!”
“Come on, if we filmed together, we’re all like older and younger siblings. But why are you all separated? What’s over there and what’s here?”
“That’s the kids’ cafe, and this is the parents’ zone. Where are your other members, senior?”
“Kids’… huh? Ah, well, all our kids went into the waiting room. I just came to say hello. The waiting room there is cramped and crowded, so I didn’t really want to go in.”
At that moment, I paused to think.
As Park Tae-ha said, the waiting room for this broadcast was nothing more than a single locker room with mats laid out. If we went now, it would be packed with people and the air conditioning wouldn’t work properly—we’d definitely be sweltering.
Phase and Storm Header probably felt awkward about it too but didn’t particularly feel like getting up, and it seemed like playing games to lighten the mood would be more helpful than spending thirty suffocating minutes there. That logic held weight.
‘If we’re going to play anyway… having at least one tank to carry the atmosphere would be more effective.’
And from what I’d observed, Park Tae-ha had considerable talent for that kind of tanking.
Having finished my calculations, I threw out a proposal to Park Tae-ha without hesitation.
“Perfect timing. We’re about to play a game—would you like to join us, senior? There’s nothing to do in the waiting room anyway.”
“A game? Oh, what are we playing? Mafia?”
“I don’t know, we’re going to decide now.”
“Hmm, sure, let’s play together. Can I join too?”
Just as Park Tae-ha was slipping into the circle with a playful smile,
“What, Park Tae-ha. What are you doing here?”
“…?”
A third person appeared, boldly picking a fight.
And at the same moment, passionate cheers erupted from our fan section.
“What are you doing hanging around our juniors? Get out of here. Kairos seniors are ours.”
“Whoa, Shus is here, Shus. What, is a group without direct juniors so desperate to survive? And there aren’t only your juniors here anyway?”
“Ah, this is getting messy.”
…It was none other than Choi Yeon-woo and Park Woong from Endway, who had rushed over after finishing their packed schedule just this early morning.
My group members and I automatically shot to our feet upon encountering our agency’s senior artists.
“Hello, seniors.”
“Ha-jin, hey. …Woong, if that kimbap’s been sitting out, don’t eat it.”
“I’m not eating it, just looking. Hi~ Oh, Won-ho’s here too. Long time no see, Won-ho.”
“Ah, yes. Hello, senior. It’s been a while.”
Choi Yeon-woo and Park Woong greeted the other groups including us warmly. Kim Won-ho seemed to feel something touching about the fact that Endway remembered him from his trainee days, his expression carrying a hint of emotion.
Whether Park Tae-ha’s claim from the last Touch High recording that he was close with Choi Yeon-woo was true, Tae-ha was conversing with Yeon-woo with a rather comfortable demeanor. No matter how I thought about it, that guy definitely seemed closer to Yeon-woo than I was.
But there was a different friendship that everyone here—including me—was genuinely curious about.
“Shu-shu, how’ve you been?”
“We just saw each other not long ago, so why the pleasantries?”
Jeong Si-u and Choi Yeon-woo—people I hadn’t seen in very long myself.
When the two who once shared the title of ‘Miro’s Crown Prince’ exchanged greetings with smiles, the fan section where Destiny and And With U supporters had gathered erupted with an absolutely deafening roar.
-Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!
…Wait, did we have this many fans?
Sensing something unusual about the scale of the roar, I glanced around and saw the massive display screen hanging in the center showing a close-up of Choi Yeon-woo and Jeong Si-u’s faces in full glory. With one having silver hair and the other black hair, if you just squeezed one female lead between them, you’d have a perfect romance novel cover.
Since there weren’t many idols remaining in the gymnasium anyway, the fans with their bias groups seemed to relax(?) and began marveling freely. Yeah, well. This is just how the Chuseok Championship is.
“But what about the other seniors? Aren’t all six of you performing today?”
“Oh, Luke has an overseas shoot so he’ll be arriving late, and the rest are being held up in the waiting room.”
“Held up…?”
“By Do-ha.”
“Ah.”
The Nam Tee-joo PTSD carved into my instincts activated. I swore that even if I suffocated from awkwardness, I wouldn’t set foot in that waiting room.
As I made that resolve, Jeong Si-u opened his mouth as if things had worked out perfectly.
“We’re bored so we’re gonna play games. Wanna join?”
“Us? We can join too?”
“More people is better.”
No way, hyung. If we join in on that, I seriously think Kim Won-ho’s maknae might actually pass out.
That’s what I thought, but of course I couldn’t voice it. Then I felt someone grab the hem of my pants from the side.
“…?”
“….”
It was Seo Tae-hyun, shooting me a look that said, ‘What the hell are you thinking, making things bigger like this again?’
To be fair, I had no intention of escalating things this far. But my silent defense never reached Tae-hyun, and eventually Choi Yeon-woo turned to me and asked.
“Ha-jin, can we join you guys too?”
“Uh, well….”
I blinked and trailed off, when Jeong Si-u, who had been watching me with an intrigued expression, added one more thing.
“Ha-jin.”
“…?”
“Scared?”
Damn it, what does this guy take me for, and if he’s going to provoke me like that, then obviously I’m going to—
“Rolling!”
I shouted.
So anyway, this bastard’s moth-to-flame personality was the real problem!
* * *
“Oh, right—it’s about time the Chuseok Special reviews start popping up….”
Kang Ha-jin’s mother, who had recently taken a break to prepare for her return to Sunset University and was scraping together living expenses while occupying the master bedroom’s front-row seat—her account name was Sunset University, her hidden account name was Professor Task.
After finishing her morning part-time job and heading to the library to study for her certification, she suddenly remembered her kids’ schedule for today and pulled out her phone.
‘If it wasn’t for covering someone’s shift at the part-time job, I could’ve tried getting tickets to the Chuseok Special today…. No, but if I went and came back, there’s taxi fare and meal costs…. Ah, but Kairos does those reverse fan service things well, so I actually got more out of it than music broadcasts…. No, no. You don’t have time to take days off right now.’
Ah, I want to throw away this real life and just do fan activities forever. If they gave out fan activity allowances from the government, that would be nice.
Is the lottery really the answer? Why do humans have to work and earn money?
Worn down by harsh reality and briefly contemplating the meaning of life, she logged into Bluebird to break the chain of deepening thoughts. Among the fan friends on her timeline, quite a few had mentioned going to watch the Chuseok Special, so by now there should be some interesting clips or live reviews popping up.
‘Did the track and field events finish by now? Usually they do one event in the morning and then the opening ceremony…. Hmm, but are our kids good at sports? Except for Do-ha, not really…. Or maybe they are, their athletic sense seemed decent…. But that last Miro Maze sports festival was such a complete mess that I can’t really tell.’
Whatever the reviews said, she’d be able to tell for sure whether her kids did well with their faces today, whether they performed well athletically, or whether they provided good fan service. Professor Task switched her account from the daily account she’d logged into earlier to her main account.
Then, the first thing that appeared on her timeline was….
Kang Ha-di
@kang_HD
Live Chuseok Special review:
Kairos absolutely demolished Janghong Sports Gymnasium with ginseng.
Is this the Chuseok Special or a college sports trip…
(Kairos and other group members running the ginseng game at insane speeds.mp4)
2.3K retweets 3.8K likes
“…?”
…They played the game well?

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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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