Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 405

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

405. Pushing a Tiger Off a Cliff (4)
I’d forgotten the lyrics.
There was a prompter in front of the stage, but the moment my vision went white, I couldn’t see anything at all.
“…?”
Tae-hyun, who had finished his part and was moving across the stage, noticed me frozen in place and his expression crumpled in panic. In that split second of hesitation, two or three seconds had already slipped away. I only snapped back to reality after the red light on camera five—which had been capturing my solo shot—went dark.
…staking everything on each step
The weight of my footfalls
My mind was still a blank slate, but my body’s instinctive memory saved me. I’d already lost two entire verses, but I spewed out whatever words came tumbling from my mouth.
Literally spewed them out. I had no idea what I was saying and just let it pour out, so “spewed” was the only accurate word for it.
The real problem came next.
Now all the other members had exited, leaving only me to carry Do-ha’s part alongside the dancers. Because I’d memorized the song so thoroughly that I’d forgotten even my own part, I could remember what the lyrics were supposed to be—but whether I could actually get them out of my mouth was an entirely different matter.
Cold sweat streamed down my back, and all the blood in my body seemed to freeze. I felt like my heart could stop at any moment.
‘…I’m terrified.’
Had standing on a stage ever felt this frightening in my entire life?
I couldn’t even manage my expression properly—I could feel my facial muscles locked rigid. I needed to push forward for the next movement, but without thinking, my feet turned backward. In that brief moment, my gaze shifted to the countless eyes of the audience watching me.
– Yu Gun needs to be cut
– #YuGun_AreYouHavingFun?
Even though it made no sense, in that moment the audience felt like judges who’d come to validate my qualifications as an idol. It felt like I could hear the real-time stream of criticism they’d be sending my way because of this mistake today.
Or perhaps those cold words of condemnation I already knew existed only made me feel more helpless.
– This arrogant bastard can’t even sing properly but acts like he’s hot shit
– Who gave Yu Gun another part lol just make him shut up and be a backup dancer
– Should’ve picked Kim Won-ho instead? Then the chemistry would’ve been better, the choreography would’ve had creative momentum, and the team vibe would’ve been way better anyway since neither of them can sing
I’d always considered myself fortunate.
I’d been cast at Miro while struggling as a young breadwinner, and I’d unexpectedly debuted successfully through a survival program I’d only joined for the appearance fee. On top of that, the debut itself had been successful, so the group was on a winning streak, and thanks to that, our family’s finances—which had been steadily declining—were slowly recovering.
And in all that success, I’d always believed deep down that my own contribution was minimal.
While everyone else was chasing their dreams, I’d simply done my assigned tasks adequately.
I didn’t even refute the criticism that I’d stolen a spot someone else had desperately wanted.
If Won-ho had been in my place instead, I probably wouldn’t have felt bitter about it, and he would’ve given his all to realize his dreams on this stage.
So whenever harsh criticism bordering on hate comments caught my eye, I didn’t mind.
I thought it was my burden to bear—having seized the seat of ‘dreams’ without any real effort.
– That arrogant bastard should just cause a scandal and quit
That didn’t mean, however, that I hadn’t been wounded by all of it.
My breathing trembled.
I wanted to prove it.
Right here, right now, in Do-ha’s place.
I wanted to show that I could fill that enormous void, that I was capable too.
-Do well. I believe in you.
I wanted to live up to Ha-jin’s faith in me.
But right now, it felt utterly impossible.
The members had exited and the dancers came up, surrounding me. It was almost time for Do-ha’s part.
“…?”
The Voice grabbed Yu Gun’s arm—still in a state of panic, his lips trembling—and pulled him back. Before he could even lift his head, that firm grip yanked him backward and thrust him into the side exit where the other members were slipping away.
Before Yu Gun could even comprehend what was happening, it was Tae-hyun who caught him as he stood there stupidly. When Tae-hyun grabbed Yu Gun’s hand and quickly pulled him to the side, the hand that had been holding Yu Gun’s arm naturally released.
And that hand’s warmth patted Yu Gun’s back a couple of times before disappearing.
We are imagination, beyond that—emergency
Only after being pulled to the side by Tae-hyun did Yu Gun come to his senses.
Looking back at the stage, Kang Ha-jin stood there with the commanding presence of someone orchestrating dancers, calmly delivering Do-ha’s part.
This is the symbol of success,
The conception beyond it
“Hey, you okay? What’s wrong? Does it hurt?”
The same rhythm, the same flow, the same lyrics, the same rhyme.
Everything was identical, yet Ha-jin’s rap sounded like I was hearing it for the first time.
Unlike Do-ha, who delivered his words in a heavy voice with crisp articulation, Ha-jin flowed through the pronunciation with a slightly higher pitch than his usual tone, sloppy and irreverent.
And unlike Do-ha, who stood upright with minimal movement and exuded a final-boss aura through subtle gestures, Ha-jin wore a playful smile all day long, wiggling his eyebrows and fooling around.
It was so natural that no one would ever think he was filling in for someone else’s part.
“Ha-jin hyung said he’d handle the rest of the parts himself anyway, so just focus on your own part. Why did you suddenly lose focus?”
Tae-hyun whispered something beside me, holding the microphone head so it wouldn’t pick up his voice, but I still couldn’t tear my eyes away from Ha-jin.
So this wasn’t despair born from the thought that I’d disappointed Ha-jin for believing in me.
“How….”
How should I.
How can I become like you?
You must have hoped for my downfall
Wake up from the dream, delusion
How should I.
How can I follow in the footsteps of someone like you?
This is my impression of your fantasy
Come at me, Fight Sign
How should I.
How should I….
In that moment, Yu Gun saw an impossibly tall staircase before his eyes.
So high that no matter how much he jumped, rolled, or clung to it, he could never climb it.
His teammates were on those stairs, Kim Won-ho was there, and many others, but it felt like perhaps only he could never reach that place.
‘I too….’
I want to become someone who does their part.
Yu Gun’s ‘dream,’ which had been frozen for so long, began to stir.
* * *
Music Camp in Japan was only filmed in August, but the actual broadcast was scheduled to air in September as a Chuseok special.
What that meant was that the scene of Yu Gun cutting off his lyrics in real-time and freezing stupidly for approximately five seconds hadn’t been broadcast on public television yet. Not yet.
[Kairos, is this a sound accident?]
The drums suddenly disappeared in the OOG part.
However, there was no way to escape the eyes of the tens of thousands of fans present at the venue, nor those watching through pirate broadcasts and other streams.
That day, Kairos’s stage was being filmed entirely through fancams by domestic Destiny supporters who had eagerly followed them to Japan, as well as overseas Destiny fans who had recently begun showing interest. Ultimately, people quickly noticed that something was wrong with Yoo Gun’s performance.
Sion
🔒 @szion_010
Watching this, there was definitely something going on, right?
What was it? Was he really hurt????
Yuzu
@yuuzats
Tae-hyun and Ha-jin suddenly pulled Yoo Gun back. There must be something wrong with Yoo Gun (crying emoji)
Translated from English
Tae-hyun and Ha-jin suddenly pulled Yoo Gun back. There must have been something wrong with Yoo Gun. (crying emoji)
[Anyone can see that Yoo Gun messed up the lyrics]
These Destiny fans are seriously hilarious, clenching their teeth and doing mental gymnastics saying the kid was hurt
Get real, you guys. Your oppa just didn’t practice enough, flubbed the lyrics, and his mental state cracked…
– But looking at the fancam, his expression was so pale that something seemed off
└ Yeah, next comment~
– I’m not even a fan of Yoo Gun, but seriously, dial it back. Even if he did mess up the lyrics, is that really grounds for all this?
└ Yeah, next comment~
└ ? Did you get shot by a random Destiny passing by? Why are you so bitter
└ Yeah, Yoo Gun’s girlfriend who succeeded in debuting with visuals and emotional appeal despite having no real talent~
└ Let’s not do this;
Ganzigonju
@ganzigonju
?
This guy isn’t Kairos’s rap member?
Then who’s the rap member?
He’s better than the one who came before
Stone Board Archive
@idolsaver
Kairos leader working a side gig for the injured main rapper
(Ha-jin’s 【Kick Off】 Do-ha part video cut.mp4)
Shares 1,234 Quotes 845 Likes 931
Genzzee
@Genzzee
Ugh, look at these Yoo Gun fans starting fights even here
Your bias has no talent, so the leader takes the bullet instead
You should at least be grateful he covers the rap parts for you
Yoo Gun has the fewest parts in Kairos
Everyone who knows knows this
If it was Ha-jin instead, it’s just a skill issue lol
I was trying out Kairos because of those guys, but I ended up bailing…
ganzigonju
@ganzigonju
?
This guy isn’t a rap member of Kairos?
Then who is the rap member?
….
Shares 453 Retweets 772 Likes 313
Fortunately, Lee Yu-gun, a muggle living a life far removed from the usual search trends, remained unaware of the depths of this petty war.
He only noticed that his manager had been paying special attention to his condition these past few days, and that the group members were monitoring whether he accessed SNS or searched for his own name—from which he could only infer that his incident had caused some kind of problem again.
“….”
“…Sigh.”
In the end, Ha-jin covered all of Do-ha’s parts in the remaining stages of Music Camp in Japan.
When editing the audio, some songs had Do-ha’s parts minimized or removed entirely, and fortunately, the choreography had been adjusted to avoid overlapping with other members as much as possible.
Do-ha’s original choreography was removed, and Ha-jin’s new choreography replaced it in those sections, so Yu-gun’s movement changes became the biggest issue—but surprisingly, that turned out to be the easiest to solve.
Yu-gun was the one person in Kairos who memorized every member’s every movement in nearly all of their choreography with perfect accuracy. He simply had to find a path that didn’t block Ha-jin’s movements and didn’t collide with the other members, then return to his own position.
Even after coming off stage, Ha-jin said nothing special. Neither did the other members.
That silence tormented Yu-gun even more.
He would have preferred to be scolded or comforted. When you caused an accident at a part-time job and your superiors said nothing about it, it usually meant you were about to be fired.
“…Ah, seriously.”
Yu-gun, sitting in the practice room, splashed his face with cold water and grimaced in distress. The recording for Sarin’s Antenna was just a week away, and Ha-jin still hadn’t said anything particular.
Was he going to continue as planned, or was this the end?
Not even knowing whether there was a chance to make amends made each day agonizing.
“You’re going to die brooding like that.”
An unexpected response came to Yu-gun, who had been suffering in silence.
Si-woo, whom he never expected to speak to him, had somehow appeared before him.
“…Ah. I’m sorry.”
Yu-gun quickly bowed his head to Si-woo in apology.
He had always been an awkward person to be around, and now that his situation had become like this, his chest felt so heavy he couldn’t even meet his eyes.
It wasn’t that he thought Si-woo had been disappointed in him. The Jeong Si-u he knew had never had expectations of him in the first place, so he wasn’t the type to be disappointed.
Even now, it seemed less like Si-woo was worried about him and more like he was asking him to be quiet because he was making noise in the practice room where they were alone.
“….”
“…?”
But Jeong Si-u didn’t leave even after closing his mouth. Wondering if there was something more to say, Yu-gun lifted his head with a confused expression, and Jeong Si-u was still looking at him with an expression that revealed absolutely nothing of what he was thinking.
“…Why, why are you doing that?”
At this point, Yu-gun felt a bit flustered.
Huh, he’s not disappointed, but is he angry? Am I being scolded right now?
As Yu-gun tried to subtly raise his guard with that thought, Si-woo let out a light sigh and held something out to him.
“Here.”
“…?”
“You’re not going to take it?”
“I… what is this?”
“Dubai chocolate. Choi Yeon-woo brought it back yesterday. Apparently it’s all the rage these days?”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
What Jeong Si-u held out was chocolate wrapped in elegant packaging.
I vaguely recalled hearing Yoo-rang go on and on about how Dubai chocolate was the latest craze.
But why give it to me? Was this some twisted act of kindness?
Unable to fathom Si-u’s intentions, I blinked a few times before accepting the chocolate. Then Jeong Si-u shrugged with a satisfied smile and spoke.
“I’m not good at comforting people.”
“…Sorry?”
“I noticed that when Ha-jin eats something sweet, it seems to help his mental state for a bit. Try it. Who knows—maybe you’re the same type as Ha-jin.”
“Well, actually…”
“Consider it payment for that nutritious meal you made for better sleep last time.”
At those words, I had nothing to say. No matter how much I prided myself on living without sentiment, I couldn’t bristle with defensiveness when someone was trying to repay a kindness.
“…Thank you.”
So I accepted the chocolate without resistance.
I’d thought Si-u would be the first among the members to criticize me, yet he was the first to offer comfort instead. It was more bewildering than anything.
“Lee Yu-gun.”
I looked up from the chocolate at the sound of someone calling my name.
The practice room door opened halfway, and through the gap appeared Ha-jin, casually dressed in practice clothes. He lowered the black mask he’d been wearing and gestured for me to come out.
“Come talk with me for a moment.”
“Ah. …Yes.”
Here it comes.
With the feeling of ascending the guillotine, I gripped the chocolate in my hand so tightly it nearly crumbled.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————