Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 481
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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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481. I’m Not That Kind of Person (2)
[[Notice] K:RUS (Kairos) Ha-jin Condition and Upcoming Schedule Information]
Hello.
This is an announcement from Miro Entertainment.
Kairos member Ha-jin is currently recovering from poor condition due to a cold and fatigue.
Following medical staff’s advice to get adequate rest and sleep, and in accordance with the artist’s desire to complete the remaining year-end performances safely, we have adjusted the schedule to allow the artist proper recovery time.
Below is the revised schedule.
(….)
Additionally, Miro Entertainment is currently requesting the removal of photographs and videos that may infringe upon the artist’s image and privacy, particularly those taken without consent during unofficial member activities.
If you discover any relevant photos or videos, please capture and attach the resource addresses and links, etc…..
[[Ha-jin] I’m fine!]
Hello, Destiny.
I’m Kang Ha-jin, leader of Kairos.
You must have been quite surprised by the news, right?
I wanted to rush right over, but I figured I should at least complete all the hospital tests and treatments and bring back results confirming I’m perfectly fine before posting this message.
To be honest, I’m completely fine!
I went to sing at someone else’s wedding and caused a commotion, so honestly I felt more apologetic and embarrassed than actually sick. Fortunately, the groom and bride were understanding, and it seems Destiny has been so worried that I wanted to share this update.
Lately, I’ve been exposed to cold air in the early morning without drying my hair, so I guess that’s when I caught a cold.
I’m reflecting deeply that I’ll never do something like that again, and I’ll be thorough about managing my health and physical condition going forward.
Honestly, I’d be ready to work right now—I’m fine to work!!
Whether it’s the Group Members or the Entertainment Company, I was persuaded by the argument that it would be better to rest thoroughly and recover fully before showing Desty a healthy appearance at the year-end schedule ahead, so I’m currently living a forced home protector life hahahaha. But I think this might actually suit my constitution?
Anyway! I’m completely fine. I’m healthy.
The doctor said my eyesight was even better than during my last checkup—they found it fascinating VV
Still, I apologize for worrying everyone, so I’m leaving a small gift.
Well then, goodbye!
Let’s meet again healthy at year-end!
(Wedding congratulatory song video taken on Kwon Wook’s phone.MP4)
(Ha-jin’s candid photo taken from one wall at the wedding.JPG)
(Ha-jin’s selfie taken at the wedding.JPG)
(Si-woo’s side profile taken secretly at the wedding.JPG)
(Do-ha’s side profile taken secretly at the wedding.JPG)
My frail-and-sickly-character misunderstanding incident, which had been overflowing with twists and turns, was ultimately resolved by canceling everything except the year-end award show, concert preparations, and a few essential schedules that couldn’t be skipped, or by switching out participating members.
‘Honestly, there’s really no need for all this.’
Thanks to the 1000% effective coughing blood buff, my condition right now was better than ever, but it was obvious that insisting “I’m fine, so I can work” would backfire in situations like this.
Before some unnecessary addendum like “recklessly willing to grind down one’s own body—the sacrifice type” got tagged onto #frail-and-sickly-character, it was far more effective for trust recovery to quietly rest as told and play as instructed.
‘Is this why teachers kept telling us to preview and review?’
But is it okay to preview life through fantasy web novels, teacher?
Though I’m not a hunter or a hero—just a mere idol.
“Hyung, we’re heading out!? Make sure you eat properly!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be back.”
“Don’t just sleep all day when you have nothing to do, got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Thanks to him, my current lifestyle was indistinguishable from that of someone unemployed.
Honestly, if it were just Kwon Wook, I could’ve managed to get by with some careful attention and handled a few jobs without much fuss, but of all things, this unexpected obstacle that flew in from the United States was planted firmly in my way.
-No, Executive Director. Please listen to what I’m saying. I’m really fine….
-Ha-jin, you always get sick around summer and winter anyway. I heard all about it when I talked to your mother the other day.
-No, that’s… that’s really just something from when I was younger….
-Aren’t you twenty-one now?
-…So that’s from when I was even younger….
-Whether you collapsed because of the penalty or the system or whatever, either way you had a fever and body aches before that, and back then you didn’t even realize you were sick.
-…Rather than saying I didn’t know….
-Si-woo and Do-ha actually noticed your condition before you did and were watching over you. What if Do-ha hadn’t caught you back then? What if he’d missed you and you’d hit your head on something when you fell?
-….
-Either rest properly when I tell you to rest and do the year-end schedule, or I’ll announce a six-month activity hiatus right now and send you to your hometown for a proper break. Choose.
-I’m going to the dormitory right now. I’m going. I’m heading there, seriously.
That hyung didn’t have such a scary image at first.
After hanging around Endway for a few months, he picked up their vibe. The charisma he’d developed in the meantime was no joke.
‘Or maybe he always had this much backbone, but kept it hidden because of that old Executive Director bastard before?’
How many people’s fates have I actually changed?
As I recalled memories from the past, there were so many things that suddenly felt new and strange.
“If you’re bored later, just watch the live broadcast. The kids seemed to be looking forward to hyung’s live stream too, so I’m disappointed I can’t watch.”
Another person whose fate I’d changed was chattering away while putting on his shoes at the entrance.
Watching Seo Tae-hyun pull a hat over his bleached hair—so white it was nearly gray from the year-end preparations he’d been doing—I found myself lost in old memories for a moment.
‘…Was that cake from back then his doing?’
At that street food stall where my friends had dragged me out for a farewell party.
While going around to other tables with cake, I’d accidentally discovered a rather pitiful and deeply melancholic young man.
He was wearing a hat or mask, so I couldn’t see his face properly, and back then it was a time when I would’ve just passed by even if Seo Tae-il had been sitting right in front of me with an ‘as if I care’ attitude, so I hadn’t recognized him. But when I faced that scene again through 【Memory Flood】, I could recognize him at a glance.
-Mom….
That was what Seo Tae-hyun looked like after ‘that day’.
‘Singing happy birthday to himself so miserably…. Honestly, such melodrama.’
If that Seo Tae-hyun from back then knew that we’d become like this now, what would he think?
As I sank into my own thoughts, Seo Tae-hyun seemed to find it strange that I was staring at him with a distant gaze and no response, so he furrowed his brow and waved his hand frantically in front of my face.
“Are you listening? The footage from the day hyung came to today’s live broadcast will be out, so monitor it.”
“…I’m listening. I got it, so stop nagging and hurry up. Can the MC really be this slow?”
“The live broadcast is busy for the kids, not for me.”
Today was the final live broadcast of Boy’s Supremacy 2, which Seo Tae-hyun had worked so hard to build.
Originally, I and the other members were supposed to go watch it together to support Seo Tae-hyun, but because of me, Miro had recently become overly sensitive about artist health management, so only Jeong Si-u and Dan Ha-ru, who had relatively more leeway, decided to show their faces.
As I was mentally going through the remaining schedules of the three people not attending the final live broadcast, a sudden question occurred to me, and I asked Seo Tae-hyun.
“But Lee Yu-gun is busy with choreography work, and Ju Eun-chan, fine, but why isn’t Lee Do-ha going? What’s he up to these days? He comes back to the dormitory at dawn and leaves early in the morning.”
Lee Do-ha and I were still in a cold war.
The difference from before was that I used to be the one who was overly intimidated, constantly reading the atmosphere, but now it seemed like Do-ha was openly avoiding me.
He was the first to notice when I was sick, the first to catch me when I collapsed from illness. Now that he was genuinely angry, I felt like I was going crazy.
No matter how hard I racked my brain trying to figure out why Do-ha’s anger had suddenly maxed out, the only thing that made sense was that I had collapsed from being sick.
‘He’s always been someone who takes health management seriously, like Si-woo. When he brought up his own injury as a reason for canceling the NMA appearance, did he feel disappointed that I failed to manage my own health…?’
But no matter how I thought about it, Do-ha couldn’t be that petty.
At this point, I was frustrated enough that I wanted to grab him and talk it out, but I didn’t even get the chance to see his face, let alone talk to him.
And this was the first time he was so openly radiating an “I don’t want to talk” vibe!
Now that I thought about it, I realized that conversations with Do-ha had always been possible because of one absolute premise—his goodwill toward me.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. All of Kairos is banned from entering the studio for now, so it’s probably not there. Anyway, Yoo Gun just said it was supplementary choreography. We have so much to get through right now.”
Even Tae-hyun, the only one among us who was comfortable with all the Kairos members and knew their situations inside and out, shook his head as if he didn’t quite know either.
‘If that’s the case, maybe he really just went to practice?’
But the way my bear-like friend was so clearly avoiding me made me uneasy, no matter how I tried to rationalize it.
“Oh, and the production team wanted to give you a small gift to thank you for buying snacks that day and appearing as a special instructor. Is there anything you’d like to eat? I told them that you prefer desserts from me rather than physical gifts, so something like that should be enough.”
Tae-hyun, who was wearing Converse sneakers with unusually long laces tied snugly around his ankles, straightened up from his bow. Before opening the door to leave, he asked one last question, and I rolled my eyes in thought before speaking.
“Hmm… cake?”
“Cake? That works? The Writer seemed ready to buy fruit siruem from Daejeon if you asked.”
“Then a three-tier cake. With whipped cream, no fruit inside, and the sponge really fluffy and airy.”
“…What? Do you have a specific cake in mind? That’s very detailed.”
“I was disappointed I couldn’t eat it back then.”
“Back then?”
As I brought up memories I didn’t quite recall, Tae-hyun’s expression grew increasingly confused.
But even with him looking at me like that, there was nothing more I could say.
I gently tapped his well-worn cap and pushed him out the door.
“Suddenly I really want that cake. Remember it well. Three-tier cake, whipped cream, no fruit, yes fluffy.”
“Uh, okay… I’ll tell them.”
“Don’t get nervous during the live broadcast, don’t stammer, memorize your lines well, and handle unexpected situations well.”
“Am I a kid? …Are you going to watch?”
“Am I really a kid? Why are you so obsessed with whether I watch?”
“…The kids really worked hard preparing. The ones you gave advice to have improved so much since that day that it’s visible to the eye? Since it’s a result you created, I wanted you to see it directly.”
Look at that. The little guy’s grown enough to take care of others now?
Since I’d only recently witnessed Tae-hyun’s dark period at twenty-eight with my own eyes, seeing him now chattering away and pulling off a pretty convincing senior idol demeanor somehow seemed even more admirable.
‘Well, I didn’t have anything particular to do until evening anyway.’
Besides, I wanted to check on a few things about Boyhood 2.
Since there was still plenty of time before the live broadcast, I could slowly watch from the backlog of episode one, and the live broadcast would come around quickly.
I crossed my arms and leaned my body against the wall by the entrance, nodding in agreement.
“Yeah, I’ll watch and leave a detailed review, so make sure to recite it word for word to the kids at the finale party. Got it?”
“Just don’t send it, seriously. …So I’m heading out? Kwon Wook said he’s here.”
“Yeah. Go get your hair done nicely at the salon.”
Tae-hyun waved goodbye and stepped into the elevator.
As the doors closed, a hollow breeze swept through the spacious dormitory, making me feel how alone I was.
I settled onto the living room sofa and turned on the television. No matter how much I embodied procrastination itself—the very personification of P—I was a man who kept his promises.
“Boy’s Supremacy, Boy’s Supremacy….”
I searched for 【Boy’s Supremacy】 on the streaming platform, and posters for both Season 1, which featured Seo Tae-hyun, and the currently airing Season 2 appeared on screen.
I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and calculated the time.
‘Still early morning. The live broadcast starts at 8 PM tonight.’
Since I already knew the general content anyway, watching it at 1.5x speed should work….
“Would it be worth doing a full marathon from Season 1?”
From that tidal wave of memories that came flooding back, there was one other person I recognized besides Seo Tae-hyun.
“…Let’s see what kind of mischief he’s cooked up this time.”
-Choi CEO, isn’t this a bit much? Huh? The preview screening is in just three weeks, three weeks! What are we supposed to do about it!? How are you running things like this!? After grinding away at event venues for years, do broadcast work look like a joke to you? Does everything in the world seem easy!?
Kim Hak-seung, the Main PD.
The mastermind behind the planning of Boy’s Supremacy Seasons 1 and 2—the same man who had tried to pull off a grand scheme with Choi CEO through Project Number Five before stepping in it.
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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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