Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 59

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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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59. A Shout to You (1)
‘I was so fixated on avoiding the original song.’
I pressed my throbbing forehead repeatedly, caught in the tangle of conflicting thoughts. In my obsession with creating something new using only the song’s source elements, I’d let the original’s meaning and distinctive character fade away entirely.
‘So what do I do now? No, how am I supposed to change anything in just a few hours?’
“So what do I do then? No, where do I even start, and how do I change things in just a few hours?”
I could feel my teammates’ gazes fixed on me, their faces etched with worry. I felt myself sinking deeper into failure.
I’d pushed this arrangement and concept from start to finish. I’d led it all. Now that the performance had flopped, every ounce of responsibility would fall squarely on my shoulders. They didn’t need to say it—by now, they were all resenting me.
‘Already… I can see the ruined public opinion crystal clear.’
– Oh no, Ha-jin…
– Kang Ha-jin seemed shaky from the first mission
– That stubbornness of his is the problem, he was pulling that crap solo back in Team B too
– What did the other kids do to deserve this lol they’re getting hit with his karma like a beam why can’t you just say it was your idea Ha-jin
└ The other kids all agreed and went along with it anyway so what
Are you a Kang fan? Kang Ha-jin totally pushed jazz on him lol, so how can he be against it?
└ Pushed no attached yes
“Do the other 4 members not have a sense of self? lol If they were dissatisfied, they would’ve said something themselves”
And on top of that, Seo Tae-hyun is here. The guy has core fans who want his smooth, happy debut so badly that #MyCherrySeoTaeHyunLetsMakeHisDebut was trending. That Seo Tae-hyun.
‘If this bastard tanks the stage, I might get my collar grabbed by his fanbase first.’
He’s known for performing well, so if his results are bad, it’s obvious that’ll come back as my karma. But the truth was, I had no new trick up my sleeve to turn this situation around.
Everything had gone so smoothly that I’d gotten careless, glossing over the midpoint check with wishful thinking—this was the karma from those bygone days!
‘I was so focused on Han Sung-woo, that bastard, that I let my guard down.’
But for my plan to work, this stage had to succeed. And I couldn’t let my one mistake ruin the other guys’ futures.
I lifted my head toward my teammates, who were watching me with complicated emotions written all over their faces.
Before anything else, I had something I needed to say to them.
“…First of all, I’m sorry.”
“Huh? Oh, no. Why would you—”
“You trusted me and left it to me, but the result is what it is. You’re all tired and exhausted, and now you have to practice all over again. I’m sorry. It’s my mistake.”
“…!”
At my apology, Ha-ru, who’d been sitting beside me and gauging the mood of the older members, wore a slightly surprised expression. Based on everything I’d seen of Ha-jin until now, I would’ve expected him to address the feedback and countermeasures for botching the midpoint check first.
‘I didn’t know he could apologize.’
Somehow, my thoughts grew heavier.
‘I haven’t said a single word this whole time.’
From the meeting until now, I hadn’t offered any opinion on this stage. I hadn’t wrestled with the concept, hadn’t voiced thoughts on the arrangement. I’d simply followed whatever Ha-jin decided.
‘So doesn’t that mean I bear responsibility too?’
The moment that thought struck me, Ha-jin apologizing alone for this situation felt deeply unfair.
“…I’m sorry too.”
“Huh? Wh-wh-what, Ha-ru, why are you—”
“Because I didn’t say anything while Ha-jin was working hard to share his ideas. As a teammate, I should’ve pushed my own ideas more actively.”
“What are you talking about, Dan Ha-ru. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Then what are you sorry for?”
At Ha-ru’s words, I blinked, caught off guard. Of course it was my responsibility, my fault—I should apologize, and I was prepared to accept whatever resentment they threw at me. But getting an apology thrown back at me left me speechless.
‘Isn’t the usual order for people to curse me out in situations like this?’
It was something I’d experienced countless times while playing bus driver for group projects.
Even the trainees from my former agency would always blame me first whenever the results of what I’d pushed for weren’t good.
-I have my own thoughts. You think you’re the only one with talent?
-You acted so superior, and this is the result? What are you going to do about it?
-I didn’t like it from the start. I just couldn’t say anything because you were being so overbearing.
I couldn’t counter with ‘then I’ll quit, so why didn’t you just do it yourself?’
-We’ve decided we’re not practicing with you anymore.
Because I knew exactly how pathetic an ‘I’ was—one that nobody sought out, nobody needed.
“What? Ha-ru, if you say things like that, I feel so embarrassed. …Hyung, I’m sorry too. Honestly, I resented you a moment ago, but thinking about it, I wasn’t in a position to feel that way.”
“Me too. During the last mission, I just took it for granted that I’d follow whatever you said. I apologize.”
“Hey, that’s enough. Stop it. That’s not why I said this, really.”
As Jae-young and Jayden bowed their heads, Ha-jin was genuinely flustered.
Why were these guys like this? They were completely incomprehensible.
“Hyung.”
“Seo Tae-hyun, don’t.”
“I’m the most sorry.”
As Tae-hyun grasped his hand with a tender voice, Ha-jin squeezed his eyes shut.
‘No, that’s not the atmosphere I was trying to create!’
But my heart no longer felt as heavy as before.
[System Alert: The state of the fixed returner stabilizes through ‘Comrade’s Trust’.]
[System Alert: The fixed returner’s trauma (isolation) will not activate.]
[System Alert: ‘Wandering and Drifting’ mode is reduced by 7%…. (Loading)]
A notification window similar to one I’d seen at Eun-chan’s house appeared once more. And as if a layer of fog covering my mind had lifted, my thoughts became clear and my emotions grew calm.
‘What is this?’
Only then did I realize I’d been tense. My entire body tingled with the strain I’d been putting on it. I clenched and released my fists habitually, and realizing the fact, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘…Don’t tell me I was actually scared just now?’
Even after living five lifetimes, there were still things to be afraid of. With my now-clear mind, I quickly reorganized the situation and clapped my hands to gather everyone’s attention.
“Alright. Then let’s settle this as something we all committed a mortal sin for together.”
“Sounds good~.”
“Yes!”
“And we’ll only accept repentance through stage ideas. It doesn’t have to be concrete, and even just opinions are fine, so let’s all discuss this together this time.”
Ha-ru smiled with pride at the return of Ha-jin’s usual self. That was definitely the hyung who suited him better—apologetic and gloomy didn’t fit him at all. Ha-ru, feeling his mood brighten, raised his hand eagerly.
“I’d like to try something like acapella. I think it would sound pretty with harmonies.”
“Okay, keeping that in mind. What else? Go ahead.”
“Well, then I….”
Starting with that, the trainees began pulling out one by one what they’d been envisioning in their minds. The expressions of the two Feather Class members, who’d been subdued throughout practice due to recording consistently dismal rankings, visibly brightened.
“I’d really like there to be choreography. After all, it’s an idol survival show.”
“Yeah, let’s think about that too.”
Unlike usual, Ha-jin didn’t immediately dismiss or refute their opinions, instead noting everything down and thinking again and again to find the single best option.
And then, Seo Tae-hyun, who had been watching the entire exchange, quietly raised his hand.
“Hyung, I….”
“Yeah, Tae-hyun, you speak too.”
“I want to do it as the original song.”
“Huh?”
The mechanical pencil I was writing with snapped cleanly in half. At his unexpected words, everyone turned to stare at Seo Tae-hyun. With a resolute expression, he conveyed his opinion to me clearly and firmly.
“I want to do a ballad.”
* * *
“…Hyung, are you dead?”
“Just kill me instead.”
Eun-chan, who had just finished showering and entered the room, clutched his chest in alarm at the sight of me sprawled across the bed horizontally, my head hanging off the edge. My face was flushed crimson from the blood rushing to it, and my inverted features looked like something that would haunt nightmares.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“This way, blood flows better to my head.”
“If circulation is the problem, you should exercise….”
After spending several days together, Eun-chan had figured out that this state of mine was a form of hysteria that emerged when I was deep in thought and worry. He walked back to his own bed and covered my face with the towel he’d brought.
“Ugh! Damn it, it’s wet.”
At Eun-chan’s modest protest, I finally got up from the bed and sat on it. But even after sitting properly, my furrowed brow wouldn’t relax. With an expression that screamed “something’s wrong,” Eun-chan, who had been lightly applying skincare, sighed and asked.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Will you listen?”
“You’re going to act like that until I ask anyway. What is it? I heard the evaluation didn’t go well.”
When Eun-chan reluctantly sat on the bed across from me, I finally revealed what had been troubling my mind all this time.
“Seo Tae-hyun wants to do a ballad. He wants to preserve the original feel of ‘Scream at You.'”
“Ah….”
“But you know too, right? He’s not really a ballad type.”
Eun-chan couldn’t deny my words and nodded in agreement.
Seo Tae-hyun’s vocal ability was certainly not bad, but it wasn’t at the level where he could decisively dominate through vocals alone like Si-woo or I could.
Seo Tae-hyun’s strengths lay in his natural stage presence, flashy dance lines, and solid live vocals that never wavered despite the choreography.
‘Even if I’m not the best at everything, there’s a limit to gambling.’
Dancing beautifully and singing lovingly—that’s what Seo Tae-hyun did best. I couldn’t understand why he would insist on singing a ballad when he possessed such distinctive talents.
“So what did you say to him?”
“I told him it won’t work. No matter how confident he is, how can he sing ‘Scream at You’ exactly as the original?”
“Then isn’t that the end of it?”
At Eun-chan’s question, as if asking what the problem was, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘If it wasn’t for that red light, I wouldn’t have cared!’
[System Alert: Colleague ‘Seo Tae-hyun’s’ current status is… ‘Very Depressed’.]
Ever since the meeting, that red light hasn’t left my sight. Eyes closed or eyes open—the red light persists.
‘And this time it says “very depressed,” no less.’
Why is this cheerful cherry boy suddenly staking his life on a ballad?!
I had personally guaranteed that even if he performed heavy metal and caused chaos, he’d still debut. But this was different. Unless everyone suddenly gained enlightenment overnight, this had no chance of success!
‘Wait. Can’t I gain enlightenment too?’
I recalled the skill 【What Makes Me, Me?】 that had proven quite useful last time, and I glanced sideways at the system.
But since it wasn’t an easy skill, it consumed a lot of cash and the penalty was severe. I didn’t want to invest that much just to fulfill one of Seo Tae-hyun’s wishes!
I sighed and flopped onto the bed.
“But isn’t this something you should have expected?”
“Huh?”
“Tae-hyun hyung was always saying that. That he wanted to shed his cherry boy image.”
Eun-chan spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, as if Tae-hyun’s decision wasn’t surprising at all.
“When he gave up on Blue or Mood Night and chose to shout at you instead, there must have been that calculation behind it. He rose to fame as a cherry boy, but in the end, cherry boy Seo Tae-hyun never debuted, did he?”
“….”
“I don’t know everything, but… maybe he wanted to show you? A version of himself that’s grown since then.”
At Eun-chan’s words, I fell into thought. Now that he mentioned it, there was a scene that had been lingering at the back of my mind.
-Tae-hyun.
-Yes.
-Do you remember what we talked about when you first said you were coming to Miro?
-…Yes.
-I don’t think you came here to do this. Or did you?
“God, this is so frustrating.”
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“Argh! This is so damn frustrating!”
“Where are you going!”

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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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