Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 406

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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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406. Pushing a Tiger Off a Cliff (5)
“What’s that?”
Ha-jin, perched on the swing at the Rooftop Lounge, asked as he noticed the chocolate in Yu Gun’s hand. Yu Gun had been gripping it so tightly that the chocolate had snapped in half, and he held out the broken piece to Ha-jin.
“Dubai chocolate. …Would you like some?”
“Dubai? Give it here.”
Ha-jin accepted it without hesitation, laughing with amusement as he unwrapped the chocolate. He examined one of the broken pieces with curiosity, then handed the remaining half back to Yu Gun.
Yu Gun took the half-chocolate into his mouth at Ha-jin’s subtle gesture. The bitterness of his current reality made the sweetness spreading across his tongue feel overwhelming. Ha-jin, tasting the chocolate as well, asked casually.
“By the way, why are you suddenly being so formal with me?”
“Huh?”
“Why the formal speech all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?”
The unexpected question left Yu Gun speechless.
He couldn’t exactly tell the truth—that Ha-jin’s presence somehow demanded it. So Yu Gun simply chewed and swallowed the chocolate, then looked up at Ha-jin with an awkward expression.
“It’s not that you did anything wrong. I’m the one who messed up.”
“What?”
“…Didn’t you call me here to scold me? When someone shows remorse, the person scolding them usually goes easier—maybe one hit instead of two.”
If he was going to be punished anyway, he preferred to take it head-on and hard.
Yu Gun had made a mistake, and facing consequences for it was inevitable. That’s just how the entertainment industry worked.
But Kang Ha-jin, who should have been delivering the scolding, said nothing. As the silence stretched, Yu Gun felt increasingly uncomfortable and lowered his gaze. The Kang Ha-jin who had radiated an untouchable aura moments ago now stared at him with wide, bewildered eyes.
“Scold you? Me? Why would I?”
“…?”
“Why…?”
Kang Ha-jin asked as if genuinely confused. His expression was almost comical—as if he were asking, “Did you do something behind my back?”
Of course, Yu Gun was the most flustered by this turn of events.
Caught completely off guard, his pupils dilated as he tugged at his earlobes and awkwardly opened his mouth.
“I mean… last time, when I messed up on the Music Camp stage…”
“…”
“I thought you called me here to say something about that…?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then why…?”
“The Executive Director said some candidates for your new place came up, and he wanted to know if there’s anywhere you like. I called you to talk about that.”
“Oh…”
Yu Gun let out a dumbfounded sound and closed his mouth.
The house he currently lived in—his family home—was old and deteriorating. Moreover, it seemed the location had been exposed to obsessive fans, causing some troublesome incidents. After much deliberation, he’d decided to move.
It was partly for his grandfather and Yoo-ho, but the Executive Director had advised that an investment in safety was now necessary, especially for Yoo-rang, the only female member of his household.
As his contract period was coming to an end, Su-ho had offered to look for houses on his behalf after learning about Yu Gun’s family situation. It seemed the candidates had been narrowed down.
Ha-jin opened the tablet he’d been holding at his side and handed it to Yu Gun.
“I’ve organized some options here, so take a look. Send it to the guys too. He said to pick out the ones you like and set a day to tour them together. Personally, I recommend number two.”
Ha-jin, who had apparently already reviewed the file, drew a V-shape with his finger as he pitched his recommendation. He really did seem to have called Yu Gun just for this. While Yu Gun quickly scanned through the neatly organized relocation candidates on the tablet, Ha-jin calmly finished his chocolate and gazed at the sky.
Yu Gun tried to ignore Ha-jin and focus on the tablet. But with his mind already in turmoil, details about monthly rent and jeonse deposits couldn’t possibly register.
“…Why?”
In the end, Yu Gun asked first this time too.
As he snapped the tablet case shut with a decisive sound and posed his question, Ha-jin—who had been captivated by the sunset and taking photographs—drew a question mark above his head.
“What do you mean, why did I recommend the second option? Because there are several decent middle and high schools nearby, and the hospital is close too, so if Grandfather ever feels unwell, it would be convenient for him to visit….”
“No, I mean… why aren’t you scolding me?”
“….”
“I made a mistake on stage, didn’t I? A major one at that. Every time you finish a performance, you always gather people and give feedback—so why aren’t you doing that this time?”
What kind of stubbornness was this? It wasn’t as if he were begging not to be scolded, but rather demanding to know why he wasn’t being scolded.
Even as Yu Gun recognized that he himself didn’t fully understand his own reaction, he felt compelled to hear Ha-jin’s answer. He needed to know whether Ha-jin expected him to reflect or to accomplish something.
Ha-jin, whose expression had grown contemplative as he studied Yu Gun, spoke with sudden intensity.
“A mistake?”
“….”
“Was it a mistake? Why? I don’t see it that way.”
“I blanked on nearly two full verses on stage—how is that not a mistake?”
“That’s just a slip-up. Everyone makes mistakes like that.”
“Has anyone in our group ever made a mistake like that?”
“Me.”
Kang Ha-jin pointed confidently at himself with his thumb. Yu Gun was rendered speechless by such an audacious answer.
“I did it, remember? During that carol performance. You don’t remember? I messed up my positioning on the broadcast and forgot the ending fairy part—it was chaos.”
“….”
“During Miro Maze, I even skipped lyrics. Do you know my nickname was “Hambok-nam” for a while? Because I clumsily blended “love” and “happiness” together when singing.”
“That’s different from this.”
“How is it different?”
Ha-jin tilted his head as if genuinely confused. Then, with a cynical smile, he continued.
“Didn’t you practice? Is that why you messed up from start to finish on stage?”
“….”
“Or did you drink the night before the performance and not fully sober up, spouting nonsense? Did you change the choreography and break the stage? Did you hit a member? Did the set collapse and cause injuries?”
“….”
“Did your clothes tear and cause unnecessary exposure that got flagged by broadcast standards? Did you flip off the camera? Did you curse in front of all the fans?”
Creak.
With the sound of old hinges, Ha-jin rose from the swing. He pulled his hands from the pockets of his loose training pants and stood face to face with Yu Gun, scratching his cheek.
“That’s what I consider a broadcast accident. Something unexpected that happens—misfortune or harm, trouble or problems caused by someone’s carelessness, things that become the cause or reason for some incident.”
“….”
“Not some happenings like nervously forgetting your own part while desperately memorizing lyrics to fill in for a missing member.”
Kang Ha-jin condensed everything that had happened to Lee Yu-gun into a single word: “happenings.”
Happenings. He called it a happening.
Thanks to Seo Tae-hyun, Lee Yu-gun had focused intensely on English while studying for the college entrance exam, and he knew the distinction. A happening was different from an accident. The dictionary definitions differed, and so did how they were understood in everyday life.
An accident was something you couldn’t laugh about while discussing it, but a happening was something you could laugh about. It was something you could later reminisce about with others, saying “remember when that happened?” or “that was actually hilarious.”
Kang Ha-jin was describing Yu Gun’s situation in exactly those terms. He, who was stricter about the stage than anyone else, was delivering such a lenient judgment—and Yu Gun couldn’t fathom why.
Perhaps sensing the confusion written across Yu Gun’s face, Ha-jin opened his mouth once more to address the silent youth.
“Someone who tried his best and gave his all made one mistake—so how is that an accident? I would think the same way whether it was you or someone else, so why would I scold you?”
“I’m different from the others―.”
“Different?”
“….”
“What’s the difference between your best effort and theirs?”
Kang Ha-jin spoke as though he could read every thought in Yu-gun’s mind. Rebutted at every turn, Yu-gun finally clamped his mouth shut. Ha-jin exhaled softly, his gaze fixed on Yu-gun.
“Is it because you see this as work, while they see it as a dream?”
“…!”
“So you made a mistake in your job just to earn money, so you deserve punishment, but they’re sincere kids overflowing with passion and romance in pursuit of their dreams, so they deserve forgiveness?”
Pfft.
Even as he spoke, Kang Ha-jin burst into laughter at the absurdity of his own words. Then, wearing an expression of genuine bewilderment, he pressed his forehead with his hand and continued.
“…Where does such romantic nonsense exist? In this capitalist world. Being an idol is just a job anyway.”
Being an idol is just a job.
That single phrase was what turned Yu-gun’s world upside down.
With one hand on his hip, Ha-jin pressed the back of his neck with the other and poured out words like a waterfall.
“Say there’s a hero. Say this hero happened to save the world. But suppose this hero didn’t actually care about protecting Earth’s peace and justice at all—his only goal was the lifetime pension, the astronomical reward, social welfare benefits, fame, and authority he’d receive for defeating the Demon King.”
“….”
“Does the peace he protected then lose its value?”
What if it wasn’t a dream?
“You sometimes feel guilty about the fact that you’re an idol right now, but there’s no need for that.”
What if you ended up here by chance?
“If you truly lacked talent and were incompetent, you wouldn’t be here. The minions on the first floor of the Demon King’s tower would have swept you away long ago.”
What if it was all luck?
“How do you even distinguish between those with dreams and passion and those without? Among those who said ‘I came for the world’s peace,’ half of them probably aimed to marry a princess and rise to glory anyway.”
What if you don’t have as much passion and romance as others?
“That’s not all. Among those who started out swearing to protect peace, plenty of them defected midway—probably five laps around the training grounds worth. The world is such that you get praised just for going through the motions, without even defeating the Demon King.”
Regardless of how you started―.
“What matters is whether you ultimately refused to give up and defeated the Demon King, bringing world peace, or not.”
…What matters is what kind of results I can produce.
“What I’m asking of you isn’t to become a super-genius rapper to replace Lee Do-ha, or some kind of awakening as an idol. Just earn your keep. Match what you earn with what you receive. Deliver the best possible results with what you’re capable of. That’s all.”
“….”
“Of course, if along the way you manage to love the countless people and allies you meet with a bit more sincerity, I couldn’t ask for more. Since you’re risking your life to earn money anyway, having some sense of purpose would generate more momentum.”
“….”
“But what matters to me isn’t your feelings.”
Ha-jin’s words sounded rather cold.
Yet Yu-gun felt his heart grow lighter at those very words.
“What matters to me is whether you, Lee Yu-gun, can do this job or not. That’s all.”
“….”
“And regardless of how you judge your own abilities….”
Ha-jin tilted his head and slowly raised his hand. Then he gave Yu-gun’s shoulder a light push. The recoil sent Yu-gun’s back against the railing.
“I don’t bet on things that won’t work.”
Yu Gun couldn’t remember what expression he’d worn after hearing those words.
* * *
And a week later.
“Hello―.”
The door to the waiting room of a public broadcasting station opened carefully. The person who pushed it open, arriving with an enormous quantity of snack boxes, was someone everyone in that room knew exceptionally well.
“Oh, hello!”
“Hello, senior!”
“Hello, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?”
The matriarch of female singer-songwriters—who had virtually retired from activities for some time after childbirth—entered the waiting room with a benevolent smile.
After giving birth, she had struggled through a slump due to her noticeably diminished physical condition, but through a chance appearance as a judge on a survival program, she had resolved to make her comeback. Beside her, who had declared a brilliant return with her original album brimming with her own stories and a blockbuster film OST, was a very small and adorable little boy.
“I’m looking forward to working with you today. I’m excited to see how much your skills have improved.”
Sarin greeted the Kairos members with a smile more genuine than anyone else’s.
The recording of 【Sarin’s Etiquette】, which earned the nicknames “live guillotine” and “skill verification ground” due to its full-song band session accompaniment and the most vivid live audio of any broadcasting station, was about to begin.

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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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