Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 513

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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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513. The Second Day (1)
【Seo Tae-il’s Man, ‘Kang Ha-jin’… Who Is He?】
Seo Tae-il had returned.
After declaring a temporary retirement from the entertainment industry following Yupia’s 20th anniversary concert, Seo Tae-il suddenly posted a new video on his OneStagram account on the night of the 15th. It was known that Seo Tae-il personally managed his SNS account rather than his agency.
(….)
While fans cheered, speculating this was Seo Tae-il’s signature comeback announcement, they also showed keen interest in the identity of the man in the video.
The man, who introduced himself as a former idol singer, was Kang Ha-jin, leader of the male idol group Kairos, with whom Seo Tae-il had previously collaborated by composing and writing the group’s debut song “Over the Night.”
A dating rumor?
As I read through the article, my eyes became utterly vacant, drifting aimlessly across the screen.
Despite being written in Korean and containing nothing but the truth, something twisted inside me. You could practically see how much the journalist had relished writing each character, anticipating the backlash.
I scrolled down with an expressionless face. What came next was even worse.
Meanwhile, netizens were responding positively to both groups, commenting: “It’s a sign of K-idol industry decline that such talent is a flop,” “Since it’s fate, why don’t the two groups join hands and release a Yupia & Kairos comeback album,” and “Kairos has so many good songs, and I’m so happy to hear news about them like this.”
Meanwhile, Miro Entertainment, Seo Tae-il’s agency, announced at 10 AM that morning: “Tae-il encountering Ha-jin’s busking performance was purely coincidental, and Tae-il himself feels it was quite fateful. Since that day, they haven’t exchanged any special contact, but they plan to have a meal together soon and continue this interesting connection.”
Netizens were showing keen interest and anticipation in whether Kang Ha-jin’s short-form video of “Blue” (originally by Yupia), which was currently garnering excellent buzz and high view counts, would bring Kairos back into the spotlight.
Coincidence, fate, connection.
My senior had thrown every keyword associated with dating rumors into his statement, which was ridiculous enough, but the Idea members treating my kid—who’d been holed up for two years—like some kind of blessing was equally abnormal.
‘Usually they don’t bring any group news, so shouldn’t they be upset that he brought some unknown flop idol?’
I grabbed my forehead and let out a deep sigh.
‘I just wanted a quiet, cozy week.’
My phone, which hadn’t received a single call even after repeating September 15th over thirteen hundred times, was now burning up with calls from journalists and acquaintances. I had no idea how they’d found out, but they were even contacting my old work email, making it unbearably annoying.
The only consolation was that this volatile commotion would disappear by next week.
♪Somewhere over the rainbow♪
Look at this, look at this.
They just won’t stop contacting me.
Eventually, I set my phone to do-not-disturb mode—beyond silent—and shoved it into my bag. The person I was about to meet was far more important than all these random people.
“…Phew.”
I exhaled shortly and lifted my head. For some reason, my hand holding the fruit basket kept sweating, so I wiped my palm on my pants and gripped it again. Looking every bit the nervous person I was, I pressed the doorbell.
A moment later, the entrance door swung wide open with a click.
And the person greeting me through that doorway was….
“Welcome, the trip wasn’t too tiring, was it?”
“…Ah. No, well. Thanks to you.”
The instigator of this whole situation, the mastermind, the final puppet master.
My former father, current scandal partner(?).
The leader of Yupia, who had debuted over 20 years ago and was nearly in semi-retirement, yet shook all of South Korea with a single OneStagram upload.
“We met in Busan and ended up eating in Seoul?”
“…Yes, well. Thanks to you.”
A man who, even in his forties, boasted the ultimate idol visuals—a literal cheat character himself—Seo Tae-il.
* * *
“You don’t mind eating at home, right? I originally planned to take you somewhere expensive, but with Kang Ha-jin becoming such a celebrity these past few days, I thought it might be awkward for us to go out together.”
“Haha…. That’s more than generous.”
Ha-jin barely restrained himself from retorting to Tae-il’s shameless words: “This is all because of you, senior.”
He was grateful that Tae-il had uploaded the busking video to Onestagram, which allowed him to connect with Thirteen, but the real problem came after that.
“I actually thought you’d contact me right away that day, but when the internet went crazy and there was still no word, I wondered if maybe you found it burdensome. So I discreetly leaked it through some reporters. The effect turned out better than expected? I should use this tactic more often.”
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, September 15th—the day Kang Ha-jin had gone to Busan and met Seo Tae-il—had not been reset.
As a result, the mysterious “busking youth” that Seo Tae-il had posted on his Onestagram account that day instantly became a hot topic. Within a single night, netizens performed miracles of investigation, uncovering where Ha-jin lived, what he did, and whose son he was.
Performance videos of Ha-jin filmed by other audience members that same day were also accumulating countless comments, with view counts skyrocketing.
– The producer who wrote the debut song and the singer who sang the song met again as singer and audience member by chance in the sea off Busan after 10 years… It’s kind of like a movie, it’s fuzzy.
– I was curious so I listened to the original, and it’s good too. I’m curious why a group like this didn’t make it back then
– Every time I see things like this, I wonder what time really is
– Seo Tae-il must feel complicated. I heard he announced a temporary retirement from the entertainment industry because he was sick of it, but the person he wrote the debut song for is still struggling to reach his dreams like this
– Oderna (abbreviation for Over the Night) It was a famous song that only I listened to all the time, but I feel relieved that it is now known ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅜ Among Kairos songs, this is not a carol << I like this song too! (The title is a bit weird, but it’s a carol. It’s a carol!!) Be sure to listen to it!!
If you only looked at the two events—a "handsome young man who sings well busking" and "a top celebrity's Onestagram post announcing temporary retirement"—it wasn't particularly remarkable.
But when these two elements intertwined mysteriously, it created a touching narrative that drove all of South Korea wild.
Moreover, when it became known that September 15th, the day the busking performance was uploaded, was also Kairos's debut day, netizens grew excited, sensing they were witnessing the beginning of an enormous reverse-chronology narrative.
"…Haha, I was planning to send you a DM soon anyway."
With Seo Tae-il loudly advertising through his company that "the meeting with Ha-jin was 100% coincidental, and I'm looking forward to future meetings," Ha-jin found himself in a position where he couldn't help but send Tae-il a DM immediately!
-Hyung.
-Hm?
-…No, never mind.
The shock of seeing that article headline through Ha-won while eating pizza without knowing anything….
Remembering Ha-won's dizzy expression even now, Ha-jin clenched his teeth. That reporter who wrote the article—even thinking about how he probably slept soundly all night with his legs stretched out, pleased with the attention-grabbing headline—made Ha-jin feel quite annoyed and irritated.
Regardless, after guiding Ha-jin to the side of the living room table, Tae-il quickly washed the fruit Ha-jin had brought and placed it on a platter, then picked up a knife and asked.
"Ah, you got home safely that day, right? You left in such a hurry."
"Yes? …Oh, the other day."
'Wait. Now that I think about it, how was that day handled for me?'
He had definitely entered the Unconscious Space in front of Seo Tae-il on the night of September 15th, but he'd opened his eyes on September 16th at his own home.
Until now, he hadn't paid much attention since September 15th was always reset anyway, but if the aftereffects were this severe, that was a different story.
At just one question asking if he'd gotten home safely, Ha-jin—whose forehead was beading with cold sweat suspiciously—saw a system window pop up with a ding sound.
[System Notification: A temporary alarm has appeared to save Kang Ha-jin!]
[System Notification: In the current timeline, September 15th has been fixed as the date of Kang Ha-jin's Busan busking incident, and on that day, Kang Ha-jin was processed as having parted ways with Seo Tae-il without incident and returned home on the first train!]
'Processed?'
[System Notification: Anyway, that's how it went! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ – ˵ ) ✧]
Was this bastard trying to brush things off vaguely with these difficult explanations lately?
Ha-jin's eyebrows were about to furrow at Thirteen's unsatisfying attitude, but then he remembered who he was in front of and quickly straightened them. Ha-jin politely accepted the apple slice Tae-il offered and nodded.
Anyway, since it had been processed as him getting home safely, that was enough for now.
"Usually people cook and serve it themselves, but I'm not good at cooking. So I had it delivered from a decent restaurant in a pinch. Just eat some fruit and wait a bit."
"This is more than enough. I'm honored."
"Haha, honored is too much. It's a place I frequently order from when guests come, so you'll like it. …Oh, I don't have anything to drink. Just a moment."
Seo Tae-il actually inviting him to his own home and peeling fruit for him personally.
Of course, in the original timeline this was something that happened as naturally as eating, but in the timeline of his twenty-nine-year-old self, it was something he couldn't have imagined, so the feeling was peculiar.
No, in the first place, in the 'original' twenty-nine timeline, I'd never debuted with Kairos in the first place, so it wasn't just imagination—it was something that simply couldn't have happened.
'When I go back, I should ask him to buy me beef.'
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to return to the original timeline as quickly as possible.
The 'original' twenty-nine had been a failure too, but this current twenty-nine was no less of a disaster. If anything, it was worse now that I'd added another failed idol history—debuting with Kairos and flopping.
Sure, I'd gotten unprecedented attention thanks to the video Seo Tae-il uploaded, but that was all his doing anyway. In just a few days, everyone would be asking "who was that again?" with question marks floating above their heads.
'All I can do is wait for Thirteen to sort this out quickly.'
Thinking that I just needed to get through about five more days, I bit into the apple with a crisp crunch.
Soon Seo Tae-il came out carrying two drinks. Sitting on the sofa, he naturally pushed the cup with coffee toward himself and the glass of orange juice toward me, speaking casually.
"Here, you don't drink coffee, right? Orange juice to load up on vitamins."
"Huh?"
"…Huh?"
At my question, Tae-il's face filled with confusion.
"What… is there a problem? Can't you drink orange juice?"
"No, it's not that…."
Tae-il looked at me as if asking what the problem was, but there was no trace of a smile on my face. I stared down at the orange juice placed in front of me.
'How did he know I don't drink coffee?'
For some reason, my stomach felt unsettled.

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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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