Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 534

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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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534. Eye of the Typhoon (1)
Kwon Myung-eun, the Main PD at Studio A, was immersed in the final preparations for 【In the Chaos】, just as she always was. With the first shooting date drawing steadily closer, the mountain of work seemed endless.
“Wow, let’s wrap this up, wrap this up. I’m going to die at this rate. Let’s at least grab something to eat.”
One of the requirements for being a competent Main PD was knowing precisely when to rest and when to push forward.
After watching the youngest members gradually lose their souls through over four hours of non-stop meetings, Kwon Myung-eun swept her hand sharply through the air to signal a break. As if her gesture were a command, everyone crammed into the conference room rose from their seats in a rush.
Myung-eun tilted her head back against her chair, kneading her stiff neck and tired eyes with her fingers.
“Senior, did you see this?”
“…Whatever it is, I really don’t want to look at anything else right now.”
My eyes already felt like they were about to fall out from staring at materials all day, yet when my junior thrust their phone at me, I squeezed my eyes shut.
It was probably just some weird meme that was trending these days anyway.
I’d never once considered myself old, but lately the world was changing so rapidly that it felt overwhelming.
“Yesterday, Ha Tae-jin posted something about Ha-jin on OneStarr. So the internet’s going crazy right now?”
“…What?”
But the topic my junior mentioned was far more absurd than any random meme.
What did someone do?
The moment my interview had been released yesterday, I’d received a phone call from the Aesthetic Entertainment executive director (disguised as an inquiry but really a complaint), so I sprang to my feet with unprecedented speed and snatched my junior’s phone.
‘Don’t tell me Ha Tae-jin wrote something strange about Ha-jin…!’
Based on Ha Tae-jin’s personality, he didn’t seem like the type to do such a thing, but blindly believing celebrities was about as foolish as it got.
With trembling pupils, I checked the phone and the first thing I read was….
[[HOT!] Ha Tae-jin’s Younger Sibling Seems to Have Caught the Eye of Someone New—Kang Ha-jin (a.k.a Haeundae Oppa).itc (402)]
“…?”
It was a community hot post with such a title.
This was strange in its own way too.
With my eyebrows bent at an angle that was less of an arch and more of a diagonal line, I clicked on the post as if entranced.
(Ha Tae-jin Interview Screenshot.jpg)
Ha Tae-jin is famous for taking good care of his juniors.
Among them, there are younger members that Ha Tae-jin particularly adores and looks after—a group known as the “Ha Tae-jin Bag” line (ex. Yu Su-hyun, Kim Young-ha, Shim Seok-jun, etc.)
(“Ha Tae-jin Bag” Line Celebrities Four-Cut Photo.jpg)
From what you’ll see, he’s the type who gets close to anyone he picks—whether they’re comedians, actors, or idols—without discrimination.
Most recently, aside from Son Je-u from the same agency being slightly on the edge of the bag line, there had been almost no member updates…
Then suddenly yesterday, Ha Tae-jin’s OneStarr post went up,
(Screenshot of Ha Tae-jin’s “Kang Ha-Tae-jin” Post.jpg)
The two of them are appearing together in 【In the Chaos】, which KTBC is newly launching.
(They apparently met for the first time during the pre-shoot a while back)
Anyway, seeing that he posted it with the nickname “Kang Ha-Tae-jin” so openly, everyone was amazed, wondering if the bag line roster was finally getting updated….
k.with.us
Hyung, you followed me just a minute ago, so this is awkward.
Kang Ha-jin commented like this hahahahahahahaha
“…?”
I scrolled down to that point, still blinking with my eyebrows bent at that diagonal angle, unable to straighten them. Then I asked my junior, who was clearly holding back laughter.
“Were they close?”
“It seems that way.”
“Since when?”
“At the pre-meeting, Ha-jin helped bring in the newer members, and Ha Tae-jin was among them. Maybe that’s when they got a good impression of each other?”
The junior member, oblivious to the fierce tension that had erupted between Aesthetic Entertainment, Studio A, and KTBC, shrugged his shoulders cheerfully.
Apparently, he found it quite amusing and exciting that his close senior had been chosen by a famous actor, but I was sorry to say—this was absolutely not such a simple matter!
‘Aesthetic Entertainment let this slide? Ha Tae-jin giving Kang Ha-jin a direct shout-out?’
Kwon Myung-eun hurriedly scrolled down to read the rest of the post. The back-and-forth between Kang Ha-jin and Ha Tae-jin seemed to have continued for quite a while.
k.with.us
You followed me just a minute ago, and now you’re doing this? That’s troublesome.
└ _hataejin
It’s been five minutes now, hasn’t it?
└ k.with.us
I apologize, but I have a phobia of people with over a million followers. Unfortunately, I’ll see you on the filming day.
└ _hataejin
But Tae-il also has over a million followers?
└ k.with.us
Well, he’s a senior in the K-pop industry now…
└ _hataejin
But Sarah isn’t a K-pop industry senior?
└ k.with.us
Sorry, the truth is I’m only following exactly 10 people right now, so I didn’t want to break that number.
Just from reading the comments, you can see why Ha Tae-jin likes him lol (he’s got impact but doesn’t get pushed around by Ha Tae-jin, he holds his ground and keeps teasing)
(Screenshot of Ha-jin and Tae-jin’s mutual follow.jpg)
And then a few minutes later, mutual follow ending lol
I thought the mutual follow controversy would end with Kang Ha-jin’s declaration of defeat, but…
@u.tae1pia
(Screenshot of Ha-jin and Tae-jin’s comments.jpg)
(Photo of Ha-jin and Tae-il taken together in the studio.jpg)
Tae-ha Tae-jin
@_hataejin
@k.with.us
When Seo Tae-il declared his participation through a story, the second round of the Kang Ha-jin conquest war kicked off spectacularly
@u_likethem
(Screenshot of Seo Tae-il’s story)
Hyung…?
@u_rock0331
@u_rmelody
@u_ooooon.gnu
Meanwhile, Yupia’s Nam Da-down, trying to snatch his own group’s eldest member, came rushing in like an angry wasp
@k.with.us
(Photo with 0 followers.jpg)
I don’t understand why everyone’s doing this,
but please unfollow me.
I want to be alone.
Kairos forever.
In the end, Kang Ha-jin, who found his older members’ attention burdensome, went dark with 0 followers lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
In the Chaos Kang Ha-jin bro chemistry already so hyped gonna be so fun
Supporting Ha Tae-jin’s new attachment younger sibling selection project
After reading the post to the very end, Kwon Myung-eun couldn’t close her gaping mouth, her face filled with question marks.
‘Ha Tae-jin? Why? Kang Ha-jin? All of a sudden? Now that I think about it, weren’t he and Seo Tae-il close? Do they have similar eyes when looking at each other as friends? But even so, there’s no way that guy wouldn’t know his own agency has been eyeing Kang Ha-jin? Why? Did he genuinely take a liking to Ha-jin? He was originally popular with his older members…wasn’t he? I don’t think so? If anything, wasn’t he the type the younger members preferred?’
However, unfortunately, the parties involved who could turn all those question marks in her head into exclamation points were not here.
Just as Kwon Myung-eun alone was growing lost in confusion, someone entered the conference room with an expression equally bewildered. It was the Studio A Representative.
“Hey, Myung-eun. What’s gotten into those Aesthetic Entertainment people?”
“…Yes?”
“They’re proceeding with the production investment as planned, and they’re not removing Son Je-u or Ha Tae-jin either? On top of that, they’re even apologizing, saying there seemed to be unnecessary friction during the negotiation process?”
“…”
It’s Ha Tae-jin.
This is 100% because of Ha Tae-jin.
With that intuition, Myung-eun let out a hollow laugh and turned to look at her junior. To the junior who seemed startled as if she’d caused some incident, Myung-eun pressed urgently.
“You monitor community reactions regularly, right? How’s the overall response to Ha-jin been? Since my interview dropped?”
“Um, well… I haven’t looked that deeply into it yet, but it’s been mostly positive. People are even digging up old footage from previous projects where your brother appeared… and since fans learned that the content they loved was Ha-jin’s idea, many are viewing him favorably.”
The junior rattled off what she’d seen, her eyes rolling expressively.
Though she said she hadn’t looked that deeply, the truth was she’d felt good about Ha-jin doing well—he’d taken care of her when she was still working there—so she’d searched during overtime last night, making her account fairly accurate.
When she first joined this company and was fumbling around clumsily, it was Ha-jin who’d taken her under his wing and taught her everything step by step. Seeing him do well genuinely made her happy, and she smiled slightly, her lips quirking up.
“…Representative. How did the OTT contract negotiations go?”
“Well, we’re still in the middle of wrapping it up. Since it’s such a large sum of money, legal review takes forever… Why the sudden question?”
“Let’s try to expedite that. And Ha-jin still doesn’t have an agency, right?”
“Well, he shouldn’t…”
“…Since Seo Tae-il is taking good care of him, maybe he won’t sign with Miro? Just in case, could you contact our company’s legal advisory team? Ask them how much they typically charge for external consultations.”
“S-Senior. Why all of a sudden…?”
Despite the good atmosphere, Myung-eun’s sharp demeanor left both the junior and the representative looking bewildered. But ignoring their confused expressions, Myung-eun pulled out her phone from her pocket and urgently called someone.
The Representative tilted his head, unable to understand as he watched Myung-eun.
“Hey, Myung-eun. Why are you suddenly like this? You’re scaring me when you act like that.”
“…He’s gotten too big.”
“What?”
“He’s gotten too big, Kang Ha-jin. We haven’t even done the first shoot yet, and somehow he’s gathering every single person of interest? What is he doing?”
“…”
“Would those Aesthetic Entertainment people really bow their heads just because they like him? Would he look good to them right now? They’re just reluctantly stepping back for a moment because of Ha Tae-jin… Damn it, Kang Ha-jin. Why isn’t he picking up?”
Myung-eun hung up the call, hearing the automated message, clearly frustrated, and dialed again. At the same time, she spoke to her junior, who still looked frozen.
“Jae-wook, go dig up everything about Kang Ha-jin’s conduct during his idol days. Everything.”
“Yes, yes?”
“If we’re unlucky, by morning I might even find evidence that he didn’t separate his plastic bags from his bottles during recycling, and I could end up burying your beloved Ha-jin with it. You need to know what you’re dealing with before you can even mount a defense. Hurry!”
“Ah, yes…!”
Kang Ha-jin, that guy.
Please, just do things moderately well!
He’d said he’d become a typhoon, and true to his word, this junior had already swept in with a massive storm before the broadcast even started. Myung-eun silently screamed an impossible plea into the void.
She could only hope that her worry was nothing but needless anxiety.

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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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