Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 49

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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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49. Daylight (5)
Overwhelmed by self-reproach and shame, I received comfort from Lia in a generous tone.
“I got confused by those lyrics a lot during events too, you know.”
“But you actually got them wrong several times, didn’t you?”
“Seo Tae-il, be quiet. This is going on the broadcast footage. Don’t let the PD find out. If this makes it to air, I’m seriously going to cry.”
Watching the two of them smoothly transition past the moment and find the next editing point, I had to admit—true idols really were true professionals. At least the spotlight had shifted away from me, which felt like a stroke of luck.
“Your singing was incredible. Wow, you were amazing.”
“No, the song itself is so beautiful…. I’m embarrassed, but it’s an honor to perform in front of you, senior.”
“Whoa, that’s not Ha-jin’s usual character. What’s this, image management?”
“…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?”
Damn. Did I pick up this stiff manner of speaking from my military days? Ugh.
I was trying to wrap this up warmly as a rookie trainee’s fan moment, but Seo Tae-il wasn’t making it easy. Confused about where this image management comment came from, I looked at him blankly, and he leaned back with his chin propped up, clearly ready to pounce.
“When we met for the mid-check, you weren’t acting like this.”
“Ah.”
I realized he was referring to how I’d fired back at his joke last time.
‘If I don’t handle this right, this whole segment gets cut.'”
Variety shows are notorious for throwing away entire scenes if the ending doesn’t land properly, no matter how valuable the content. Especially since this was an unplanned tangent not in the original shooting schedule. I couldn’t let this awkward moment result in a complete cut.
I immediately brushed my bangs back with a resigned gesture and gave both Lia and Seo Tae-il my most charming look. God, what a mess.
“You must be disappointed, losing such talent.”
“Ahahaha! What!”
“What is this, why did Ha-jin adopt this concept?”
Good reaction.
I felt satisfied watching the mentors laugh until they nearly fell over, but then a wave of embarrassment and shame hit the back of my head, and I quickly dropped the expression and fixed my bangs again.
I shot Seo Tae-il a look that said ‘Are you satisfied now, you bastard?’ but he was already drumming on the desk, laughing away.
“Man, this is seriously hilarious.”
“Well, you’ve all had a good laugh. Shall we move on to the next topic?”
“Yes, um. Shall we? Next question?”
It seemed the prompter had signaled to move on quickly before things dragged out too long. While everyone was still caught up in laughter, the vocal trainer checked the prompter again and picked up the microphone.
“I understand Team B is currently down one member due to illness, so you had to redistribute the parts urgently…. So Ha-jin trainee is handling all of that member’s parts now?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“That’s actually a choice that requires more than average confidence.”
Here it comes. I’d expected this question, and the Writer had already briefed me on it before I came in, so I wasn’t particularly flustered. I paused thoughtfully, then looked at the Team B members standing beside me who hadn’t gotten a single line yet, and spoke.
“Actually, my teammates showed me a lot of consideration.”
“Consideration?”
The mentors looked at us with curiosity at this unexpected answer. I gave the Team B members a look that said ‘read the room,’ my expression more surprised than theirs, and put on my professional smile. Damn it, if you guys keep making those faces, what am I supposed to do?
“I haven’t been at the Company very long, and suddenly I was getting good evaluations and even became the leader, so honestly I was feeling a lot of pressure.”
“Ah, I see~.”
“So when we first distributed the parts, the members showed me a lot of consideration. They gave up the impactful parts so I could take fewer lines…. And then Jae-young suddenly got sick.”
I paused here and took a breath. I knew Park Jae-young hadn’t gotten sick for ‘no reason at all’—it was deliberate. For some reason, my chest twisted with guilt toward Jae-young, and I felt it like a soft drumming against my heart.
“…So the other members are already handling much more difficult parts and movements in their own sections. After discussing it with them, I decided to work harder and take on Jae-young’s parts as well.”
It’s all lies anyway. Besides, the real reason can’t be solved even with broadcast edits.
I couldn’t exactly tell them, “Those bastards dumped this on me,” so I brushed off the question with some vague talk about Team B’s tearful teamwork overcoming the crisis through combined effort, then shot another sharp look at the trainees who were still staring at me with expressions that screamed, “How does this guy lie so smoothly without even wetting his lips?” I was signaling them to read between the lines.
Get a clue, you idiots.
Fortunately, a few of them seemed to understand that look well enough, nodding quietly and lowering their eyes.
“Going from a nine-member to an eight-member formation and suddenly revising the choreography must have been really tough. Still, I’m glad you handled it so calmly. Um… I’m looking forward to this Stage performance.”
“Alright then, Team B. Please prepare for the Stage.”
The Stage cue dropped and the lighting slowly shifted. The trainees who’d been standing quietly watching my solo act scrambled to adjust their positions and formations. Before the lights cut completely to black, I spoke to the ones who still seemed stiff and tense.
“Listen up.”
….
“Let’s do this well.”
The lights went out. Finally, it was time to unveil our first Daylight.
* * *
Unlike Team A, which had gone with a white and blue concept, Team B’s costume concept was a mismatched look that harmoniously blended black and red. Refreshing blue with black and red? It was quite a profound approach. Lia twirled her pen, thinking it probably turned out this way to show contrast with the opposing team.
Still, they could have dressed them with more unity.
It was a shame that there was such a sense of separation, as if the two teams were performing on completely different stages.
Then, an intro that always felt like a masterpiece began.
Whhhiii―
Huh?
Over a refreshing guitar riff, someone’s whistle layered on like humming. An orchestra beginning with timpani. And the pair choreography of the featherweight class, now even-numbered with one person missing, moved in perfect unison like a waltz, forming a grand formation.
A ball?
Moreover, those clothes that lacked unity earlier seemed to have had a purpose—all the paired members wore different colored outfits. And soon, Kang Ha-jin, who had been executing the choreography with his partner in his position, moved to center and began singing smoothly.
Hello, it’s me.
Unlike Team A’s Sung-woo, who greeted someone cheerfully, Kang Ha-jin’s nuance was subtle. Lia didn’t miss that delicate expression and fixed her attention firmly on him.
For such a long time, we
looked in different directions
“Huh?”
“Haha, these guys are fun again.”
For someone to stand balanced in center within an even-numbered formation, one person’s sacrifice is necessary. Someone must stand directly behind the center member. And typically, the member standing behind center becomes almost invisible, hidden by the center member.
But Team B’s Stage was different right now.
“Kang Ha-jin is doing the complete opposite choreography right now, isn’t he?”
“Yes, yes. Wow, that must be incredibly confusing.”
Kang Ha-jin, standing in center, was executing all the choreography in the completely opposite direction, creating an optical illusion where it appeared he was matching pairs with the trainee behind him, including the surrounding trainees. Where it might look wrong, he substituted with gestures; where the synchronization looked right, he executed the movements clearly and continued his part.
Performing the opposite-direction choreography all at once was certainly no easy feat, but for Kang Ha-jin, it wasn’t that difficult either. After all, he’d always had to face them while watching their movements, dragging their practice along by the collar.
Moonlight filling the sky
Pouring Starry Night
When all those journeys end
Finally, our Highlight we’ll meet
“Definitely… Team A’s kids are strong, that’s for sure.”
“But Team B isn’t as bad as I thought.”
“I like how their angles are so sharp—it feels like the audacity of rookies, you know?”
Unlike Team A, which suppressed minor dissonance through each member’s overwhelming individual skill, Team B’s strength lay in the unified cohesion of a perfectly orchestrated performance. Only now could Lia truly grasp the meaning behind those deliberately disparate costumes.
“Your song interpretation is engaging too. After all, the choreography right now shows you two searching for each other—keep that going.”
The “you” and “I” spoken throughout the lyrics became vividly tangible on stage. That interpretation was meticulously woven into the performance, and it exploded in the chorus. Gong Seok and I began dancing while gazing directly at each other in the center of the stage during the refrain.
Another sun rises, to illuminate you and me
Let’s hold hands, so we don’t lose our way
I’ll walk with you, so night never comes
Never fallin’ down(down down)
At the end of this labyrinthine world, there is only
Never Going back(back back)
The story of you and me that will remain
They cleverly shifted positions with each part so the camera could capture them in a single shot. It was my calculated move to openly embrace a pair concept now that we had an even number, but to Lia, it looked like a stage conceived with this concept from the very beginning.
“Is that arrangement something they just changed?”
“The positioning and formations seem new, but that concept was already there during the mid-check. I told you—these guys are fun.”
Lia, startled, turned to Seo Tae-il beside her, and he simply grinned and nodded. We were just entering the dance break, and I still showed no signs of fatigue.
“Kang Ha-jin’s breathing control is better than mine?”
“He trained as a trainee at another company for a few years. When he was younger, he apparently did children’s musicals for a long time too. And choir.”
“Wow, youth really is something else.”
Of course, that young man’s remarkable breath control didn’t come from children’s musicals or choir. In truth, it was forged by the past life of Private Kang, who ran drills until exhaustion, and Producer Kang from a previous life, who climbed stairs desperately to deliver tape submissions—but neither of them could possibly know that.
The song approached the third verse. Seo Tae-il noticed it was Gong Seok, not me, stepping aside for ad-libs, and he paused, checking the lyric sheet again.

“…You got greedy?”
Even after the dance break ended, my solid vocal tone, nowhere near its limit, stretched powerfully through the third verse chorus. While executing the choreography at center and singing with all my might, I lifted my gaze slightly and winked at Do-ha, whose surprised expression mirrored my own.
‘Thanks for the hint, you bastard.’
Today, Kang Ha-jin was truly determined to do it all alone.

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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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