Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 540

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

540. Eye of the Typhoon (7)
“One, two…! Ah, what a waste!”
“You haven’t sounded regretful about anything since earlier, so why….”
There was something about ‘dance’ that seemed to possess a certain power.
When he was younger than he was now, Yoo Gun had thought something like that before.
“That’s why you can’t just exit right here—you need to break it up first. If the step comes in immediately, it’s way too intense.”
“But that’s what makes it cool.”
“…If you chase coolness twice like that, you’re going to run out of breath.”
First of all, stray thoughts disappeared.
This was actually the fascinating part—because he had no choice but to use his body, other thoughts naturally fell away. When sweat poured down until his breath came up to his throat, the weight of reality that had been tormenting Yoo Gun would vanish, and he would feel only his muscles swaying in rhythm with the beat.
One of the reasons Yoo Gun, who had carried so much on his shoulders since early childhood, had come to love dancing was precisely this.
“Ah, I got it. The right foot goes out first, then you flick the left hand while pushing.”
“But wouldn’t the left foot going out feel more natural when connected to the previous move? I keep habitually starting with the left foot.”
“That’s because you keep bringing your feet together in the previous move. At ‘you make me better’ here, at the ‘better’ part, you need to end with your toes right there. That way the next connection flows naturally.”
“Ah, yes. You’re right.”
Second, when you moved your body without thinking like that, it became quite natural to be with anyone.
Since movements had to match, conversation had to happen, and through conversation, awareness of harmony with that person grew. Having one goal to immerse yourself in had the effect of allowing even people with different temperaments to share the same emotions.
“Should we play the song? Not 0.8x speed—full speed.”
“Let’s go.”
And so, taking time bit by bit, as difficult movements became ingrained in the body and transformed into a single dance―.
“Yes! We got it! We got it!”
“Oh, sorry. That was my mistake. Let’s do it one more time.”
“What, you little…?”
*Pfft!* “Wow, your expression just now was seriously stupid.”
“This disrespectful grandson of mine, messing up and then calling his grandfather stupid…?”
And before you knew it, laughter would bubble up.
When a movement that wouldn’t stick finally took hold,
When a routine that kept slipping up was finally executed without a single mistake,
When breathing that had been chaotic and mismatched finally unified like a single person,
When the Practice Room was filled with nothing but the sound of music and footsteps striking the floor.
In those moments, only the exhilaration and thrill became Yoo Gun’s entire world.
“But why do you keep bringing up Grandfather since earlier? It’s been ages since our grandfather passed away.”
“You really do have a way of making people feel apologetic every single time…?”
Before long, Yoo Gun was conversing and joking with Ha-jin without any awkwardness.
The days when they would snarl at each other the moment their eyes met seemed like they were truly just discord born from the mental strain of employment instability, so well-matched were the two. The jokes weren’t unpleasant, and the back-and-forth banter never crossed a line.
No, actually, he was just acting like he always did, but Ha-jin was responding in a way that matched him perfectly. And it didn’t seem uncomfortable or like he was unnecessarily bowing and scraping.
‘It’s just… like we were always this way.’
Like this was naturally how we were together.
Yoo Gun found that Ha-jin’s such matter-of-fact attitude no longer felt strange to him either. It was a curious thing.
“Coming to the Practice Room after so long, it suddenly reminded me of that. When Ju Eun-chan destroyed the Practice Room floor.”
“Ju Eun-chan? That timid kid breaking the floor? How?”
“What, you don’t remember? He and Dan Ha-ru were fooling around practicing acrobatics and cracked the floor. That’s why we put up safety tape in the Practice Room saying a sinkhole had opened.”
“Well… I think that might have happened….”
While practicing, Ha-jin casually brought up old stories.
The “past” Ha-jin spoke of seemed slightly different from Yoo Gun’s memories of Kairos, yet when he thought about it, vague recollections of related events came to mind.
Time and memory were truly relative things, so Yoo Gun simply thought that perhaps those ten years had both blurred and sharpened his recollections.
‘Were we… closer than I thought?’
Listening to Ha-jin reminisce about Kairos made all those memories of hatred and dislike feel like lies.
The Kairos he remembered in his mind had collapsed so completely that there was no time to even grow close—they’d parted ways saying “it was all messy, let’s never see each other again.” Yet as he quietly listened to Ha-jin’s words, hazy images of genuinely joyful moments flickered through his mind, which was quite strange indeed.
“Then should we run through that part one more time and film it before we wrap up?”
“Ah… yes.”
The “that part” Ha-jin mentioned was Kairos’s 【Kick Off】, the song Ha-jin had played the moment they stepped into the Practice Room.
Actually, Ha-jin had wanted to practice this song first, but for some reason, Yoo Gun felt strange the moment he heard it and insisted on warming up with a different song instead, which had stretched all the way to the end of practice.
Yoo Gun still felt an inexplicable unease about this song and wanted to avoid it, but Ha-jin argued that there was nothing better than reminiscing with group songs to properly end the discord rumors, leaving him no choice.
“Then I’ll just go to the Restroom for a moment.”
“Sure.”
For some reason needing mental preparation, Yoo Gun fled toward the Restroom. His stomach had been churning and he felt nauseous for a while now.
‘Is it because I haven’t danced in so long?’
Questioning his physical condition, Yoo Gun eventually emptied his stomach and rinsed his mouth at the sink. Countless thoughts bubbled up in his mind like soap foam.
‘If I get five million won, where should I spend it? Well, I’ve paid off all my debts now, and I still have plenty saved for Yoo-ho’s tuition, so there’s no rush… Maybe I should buy the kids some meat. Yoo-rang has been completely drained from his internship lately.’
After rinsing his mouth, washing his hands, and drying them with tissue, Yoo Gun suddenly had a thought.
‘Come to think of it… I’ve never actually taken the kids on a trip. I promised Yoo-ho I’d take him to Jeju Island once.’
Wait? When did I make that promise?
But he definitely had a memory of making that promise. So when did he make it? Ah, it was during that self-content shoot when we went to Jeju Island… Wait, what self-content? Didn’t we fail miserably because we didn’t have the money for that?
‘But I definitely… went to Jeju Island with someone back then…?’
Question marks in Yoo Gun’s mind multiplied at rapid speed. The fact that the memory was just on the tip of his tongue made it all the more frustrating.
By the time he returned to the Practice Room, Yoo Gun’s furrowed brow never relaxed. Once he’d noticed the discrepancy, it made him question every moment that had happened today.
Yoo Gun stepped back into the Practice Room.
We are an emergency beyond imagination
“This is the symbol of success, the footstep beyond…that…?”
The Practice Room was already playing 【Kick Off】, perhaps because someone had started it beforehand. Just as Yoo Gun’s part ended, Do-ha’s part was playing, and without realizing it, Yoo Gun hummed along to those lyrics.
Considering how overwhelmed he’d been just memorizing his own part during his struggling days and never properly mastered it, this was impossible.
‘Why do I know these lyrics?’
Yet now, from Yoo Gun’s lips flowed not his own part, but Do-ha’s, smoothly and naturally.
As if he were someone who had practiced by reading the lyrics over and over until the paper wore thin.
Yoo Gun even perfectly remembered the exact timing of Do-ha’s breathing.
“Hey, listening to this song just reminded me of something….”
That was when it happened.
“Remember back then? When Lee Do-ha got injured and you filled in for him on this song and totally messed it up?”
Ha-jin kept his gaze fixed on his phone, speaking lightly as if it were nothing of consequence, with an easy smile.
“When was that again…? You messed up so badly that I had to clean up your mess? Oh, was it ‘Sarin’s Etiquette’? That broadcast show?”
“What are you talking about? That was Music Camp! The one we did in Japan. I was so shocked back then that I tried so hard not to mess up ‘Etiquette’ there…”
Ha-jin had teasingly brought it up with a giggle, clearly intending to make fun of Yoo Gun, and Yoo Gun reflexively answered without even realizing it. It was such an unconscious response that he wasn’t even aware of it himself.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
And then, silence.
Neither Yoo Gun, who had answered, nor Ha-jin, who had heard the answer, could easily continue speaking.
“Kick Off” that had been filling the Practice Room suddenly cut off with a single gesture from Kang Ha-jin. As the music disappeared, the Practice Room was engulfed in absolute, complete silence.
“…Lee Yu-gun.”
Ha-jin lifted his gaze from his phone, slowly raising his head.
Then, very slowly but with the gleaming eyes of a predator that had spotted its prey, he stared at Yoo Gun. Yoo Gun, frozen stiff as if his thoughts had turned to ice, met Ha-jin’s gaze.
The scar above Ha-jin’s right eyebrow, which resembled a scratch, twitched rhythmically. His dark eyes sparkled more intensely than ever before.
“You remember, don’t you?”
That single statement, brimming with certainty, shot up into the air like a flare.
Lee Yu-gun, whose pupils were trembling wildly as if he were still processing the situation, covered his own mouth three seconds later.
And then….
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh―!!!! What is this, what is this!?!!? What is this!??!?!!”
The scream of Lee Yu-gun, the youngest of Kairos’s official cowardly trio, filled the Practice Room.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————