Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 543

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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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543. An Unexpected Encounter (1)
Ha-rang
@dohajin_luv
Every time I organize my hard drive,
there’s one photo I could never bring myself to delete.
Your youth, which I’m seeing for the first time in ten years.
#KangHajin #LeeYugun #Kairos
(A two-shot of Ha-jin and Yu-gun taken during an outdoor schedule in their early debut days.JPG)
1.2K shares, 400 quotes, 1.3K likes
“This is insane.”
The moment I saw the account name of the post that appeared on my SNS timeline, I hurled my phone without thinking.
I’d made a big decision to change my phone, but I couldn’t tell if the screen had cracked.
But before I could pick up the phone and check its condition, I had to clamp my mouth shut—a scream was threatening to burst out at any second.
I was so shocked that my legs had practically climbed onto the chair.
“What are you doing…?”
The person I’d made plans to meet today looked at me with an expression of utter bewilderment. They walked over slowly, two mugs held lightly in their hands, and sat down across from me before speaking.
“Sometimes I think you’re a bit strange too.”
I rolled my eyes in a way that conveyed the meaning of “You’re only noticing that now?”, and the person across from me let out a hollow laugh before sliding one of the cups toward me. It was filled to the brim with what was unmistakably 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice.
“Ever since Busan, I’ve had this feeling that you’re oddly unafraid of me?”
Seo Tae-il, now in his second decade of debut with his short hair recently bleached to ash gray, giving him an even more intimidating appearance that seemed beyond approach, looked at me with curious eyes as he studied me.
I couldn’t possibly say something like “Well, in the original timeline, I was your (conceptual) son,” so I awkwardly lowered my hands and legs and quietly picked up the phone I’d thrown.
“Ah, well… I got an unexpectedly surprising contact from a noona I used to be close with.”
So this noona was active here too.
Or rather, she had been active here.
I hadn’t thought that Destiny wouldn’t exist in this place, but perhaps that’s why I never imagined we’d be able to reunite like this…
“…Are you crying?”
“What? No? I’m not?”
“Never mind then. Your eyes just seemed a bit lost in nostalgia, so I thought you were an ex-girlfriend or something.”
Seo Tae-il shrugged his shoulders and said something unsettling.
This guy was already over two decades into his career, and his fans were divided between “he should keep working to earn baby formula money after marriage” versus “since it’s come to this, he should just stay single for life”—and he was subtly trying to lump me in with that too.
Instead of answering, I drank the 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice with a sharp, cold gaze, and Seo Tae-il lowered the conference room blinds with the remote before speaking jokingly.
“Besides, you might become an entertainer under our company starting today. It’s better to clear up those private matters cleanly beforehand.”
That’s right.
This place was Miro Entertainment.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the company building I was familiar with—the one where Miro suddenly unfolded during the first shoot of Miro Maze—but rather an older, smaller, more cramped building from the past. It seemed the butterfly effect of the “worst timeline” applied to us had influenced things in various ways.
And today, I had come to this place at Seo Tae-il’s request for a meeting regarding a “management” contract.
“So, have you thought about it?”
Since I’d already heard a rough outline of the contract terms during our contact to set up this meeting, this meeting was more for giving an answer than for discussion.
In any case, it was true that Seo Tae-il had made a significant contribution to my comeback in the entertainment industry, and it was also true that I was planning to make a comeback as Kairos with songs from Seo Tae-il, so from his perspective, this was a natural proposal.
Moreover, in the meantime, I’d confirmed my appearance in “In the Chaos” and was gaining quite a bit of popularity on SNS through the so-called “Kairos Soul Stone Collection” operation, so for Miro on the brink of closure, this was an opportunity that absolutely could not be missed.
I drained half of the excessively fresh 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice in an instant. Then, with an impeccably refreshing tone, I asked my question.
“Before I answer, would it be alright if I asked you one thing?”
“Anything.”
“Have you decided to drop the formal speech altogether now? I mean, I’m actually more comfortable this way, so I just wanted to check.”
“Ah.”
Seo Tae-il, apparently only now realizing the unexpected observation, spun his chair around with a subtle smile. Then, interlacing his fingers and shrugging his shoulders, he stared at me intently.
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought much about it, but Ha Tae-jin was being so friendly that I figured we’re close enough to drop formalities, right?”
“You’re asking for permission now?”
“At this point, it’s more of a notification.”
“Honestly, with your seniority, I would’ve understood even if you’d said it that way from the day we first met.”
I nodded lightly in acknowledgment and threw out the joke, and Seo Tae-il’s face broke into a satisfied smile as he pulled his chair closer to the desk. There was an unmistakable sense of victory in that smile—he’d clearly picked up on the subtle positive undertone in my words.
I quietly lowered my gaze. The phone screen still displayed a post from the account ‘Ha-rang’. In the photo Ha-rang had uploaded, there was Yu-gun and I from the early days of our debut, striking an awkwardly inexperienced pose that anyone could see was fresh and green.
‘Once we seriously start filming, having proper management will definitely be helpful in many ways.’
And if I were to get a new management company now, there was no better choice than Miro. From the start, I was one of those people who desperately hoped that my agency in this timeline would be Miro (once again).
Seo Tae-il held out the tablet screen with a confident expression.
“First, it’s a three-year short-term contract, the settlement ratio is at industry-preferential rates, and considering you haven’t shown much to the public yet, the contract signing bonus is quite substantial. It means the company highly evaluates Kang Ha-jin’s potential.”
“….”
“The first filming for ‘In the Chaos’ is coming up soon, right? If you just show willingness to agree today, the company will immediately assign people and get started.”
The tablet screen displayed the contract terms Seo Tae-il had briefly mentioned verbally, laid out clearly and neatly.
Apart from the three most important elements when making a first contract—contract period, settlement ratio, and signing bonus—the contract that Seo Tae-il and Miro proposed was written considerably in my favor.
There was no way a company would take a loss and sign an entertainer out of sheer madness.
This meant either Miro was deliberately trying to deceive and defraud me, or they’d run the numbers and calculated that offering this much would still be profitable for them.
“The contract can go through full legal review before proceeding, so today we’ll just confirm Kang Ha-jin’s intention.”
Seo Tae-il seemed convinced that I would accept their proposal.
Of course. There was no reason to refuse.
Right now, I didn’t even have a single salon to go to when ‘In the Chaos’ filming started, so Seo Tae-il’s proposal was like a golden lifeline that had arrived at the perfect moment.
And once again, the problem was….
“I’m truly sorry to interrupt, but I haven’t been able to make a decision yet.”
That I still had no intention of grasping that lifeline.
It was an unexpected answer, so Seo Tae-il stopped moving and looked at me.
I conveyed my thoughts to him calmly.
“If I ever sign a contract with a company, it will be with Miro. Regardless of the conditions.”
“…Why is that? Is it because of me?”
“Because that’s the best narrative.”
A Miro-style group made up of a Miro-trained manager and Miro trainees.
We debuted with a mystical song gifted by Miro’s representative artist, but ultimately failed spectacularly, and then ten years passed.
Then by chance, we were discovered by that very representative artist who had gifted our debut song, miraculously succeeded in our entertainment industry comeback, and now we’re preparing for the group’s new leap forward after ten years.
For this story to end movingly, it really needed to become a happy ending where ‘in the end, everyone ate from the same pot and lived happily ever after’.
“Hmm, but what do you mean you haven’t made a decision yet?”
“…I just think the timing isn’t quite right yet.”
The reason people reacted to the title “Kang Ha-jin, former PD from Mangdol” was simple.
It was fresh.
An unexpected moment of hidden strength discovered in some nobody who seemed to have just popped up from nowhere and squeezed themselves in.
Once the pre-meeting filming aired—footage where I had deliberately performed and essentially done everything possible—people would project themselves onto my position and experience catharsis every time I showed my capabilities.
A complete rookie ordinary person sandwiched between obviously high-spirited “names” delivering a massive performance was precisely the underdog narrative that South Koreans went wild for.
“What makes you think that way?”
“As you said, I haven’t proven anything to the public yet.”
But that was only true when I was an ordinary person from Mangdol with no money and no connections.
When I obtained Miro as my solid backing, I absolutely needed public consent. That “consent” didn’t mean simply nodding along with “I see”—it meant everyone needed to understand that “someone like Kang Ha-jin is worth snatching up.”
To put it bluntly, if I had plenty of time ahead of me, it wouldn’t matter whether I signed with Miro right now or not, but the time remaining for me was barely ten months.
“Being without an agency yet is actually more advantageous for gaining the viewers’ favor.”
No matter what happened, to achieve “proper success” within this window, I couldn’t afford to do anything that would diminish the public’s goodwill toward me.
Even if that meant turning my back on Miro Entertainment, which was like a second home to me.

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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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