Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 82

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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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82. Bomb! (4)
[System Notification: …. s(・｀ヘ´・ ;)ゞ]
“What.”
From the second-floor railing, I watched Han Sung-woo make his final exit after his conversation with Ju Eun-chan, and Thirteen kept drawing my attention with his antics.
I’d read-receipted him several times because it was too bothersome to respond to everything, and now he was going all out with flowers and aurora sparkle effects.
“Pretty decorations don’t make the message any prettier, you know.”
[System Notification: But what about a red 1 that never disappears?]
This vicious bastard….
“What. What’s the problem, exactly.”
[System Notification: (reaction of choking on sweet potato and dying)]
“The votes disappearing?”
[System Notification: (vigorous nodding reaction with neck bending) (˃̣̣̣̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣̣̣̣)]
I’ve noticed this for a while now—this bastard’s been way too invested in my idol challenge lately. And he’s not even looking for the Seeker of Immortals like I asked.
[System Notification: But! I’m so frustrated!]
[System Notification: I covered everything up in the end and even lost the votes! (ಠ‸ಠ )]
“Somehow you look more wronged than I do?”
I laughed at the absurdity, and he immediately puffed out red steam, as if asking how I could laugh now.
Oh?
“I get it, so don’t turn red. I have trauma from you turning red.”
[System Notification: …. (solemn)]
“And you learn things by waiting to see how they unfold.”
[System Notification: …?]
I stared at the revolving door of the Miro Entertainment Building where Han Sung-woo had completely disappeared.
When I turned my head, Ju Eun-chan was coming up the stairs. He approached with a slightly surprised expression, as if he’d just noticed me.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah. You done talking? Let’s go eat. The others already left.”
“…Ah.”
At my suggestion to go eat, Ju Eun-chan’s expression darkened noticeably.
He hesitated for a moment, his lips moving slightly, before asking me carefully.
“Hyung. …Would you like to go out and eat with me today? I’ll pay.”
“Why? The Company Cafeteria is serving steamed chicken today.”
“I’ll buy you something more delicious.”
But I wanted the steamed chicken. Does he hate it?
However, looking at his expression, it seemed the point was eating outside rather than the menu itself.
‘Well, there’s no reason to refuse when he’s offering to buy me food.’
Unable to resist that look in his eyes, I eventually pulled out my phone. And I called Seo Tae-hyun, who would be waiting for Ju Eun-chan and me.
-Why aren’t you coming? Ha-ru is so hungry he’s about to pass out. (Hyung… I’m seeing a mirage….)
“Yeah. Go ahead and eat first. I’m going out to eat with Eun-chan today.”
-Suddenly? You said you’d definitely eat the steamed chicken from the Company Cafeteria today.
“Rich Eun-chan is buying me something more expensive. Hanging up.”
—What? No, hyung. Eun-chan, stop eating all the—
I ended the call right there.
There was a significant misunderstanding in Seo Tae-hyun’s last words, but since it was true that I’d been freeloading off Ju Eun-chan quite often, I didn’t feel the need to correct him.
“I’ll choose the menu?”
“Yes, hyung. Eat whatever you want.”
“Alright, let’s go then.”
On a gloomy day like this, there’s only one thing I’m craving.
Ju Eun-chan followed behind as I led the way.
* * *
Eun-chan stared blankly at the bubbling broth of the gamja-tang.
As I gazed at the simmering soup alongside the sound of falling rain, I felt the tension gradually drain from my body.
“On rainy days like this, you’re supposed to eat something hot like this to practice well.”
“Hyung, sometimes you’re really… like an old man.”
“Tch, this brat.”
Even if I did regress, I’m not an old man, damn it.
The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but Ha-jin barely managed to swallow them. Hearing “old man” for the first time since the Military, after regaining ten years of youth, left a bitter taste.
“Just eat your food, you young thing.”
Ha-jin scooped a generous portion of gamja-tang onto Eun-chan’s plate. Eun-chan looked at his plate with a slightly awkward expression, then took a spoonful of the broth.
“…!”
“…What? You’ve never had gamja-tang before?”
“I never really had the chance to try it. But this… it’s delicious.”
Eun-chan’s spoon moved faster as he seemed to enjoy it. This wasn’t some wealthy heir experiencing commoner life.
‘…Or was it?’
Come to think of it, an eighteen-year-old trainee living alone wouldn’t have many opportunities to eat gamja-tang.
Ha-jin pushed the sauce toward Eun-chan and set down a plate of radish kimchi to share, then began eating as well.
“So.”
“…Yes?”
“Why didn’t you want to go to the Company Cafeteria? Tell me. It’s loud here, so people can’t hear each other well.”
At that, Eun-chan stopped eating.
I couldn’t tell if his feelings were written all over his face, or if Ha-jin was just exceptionally perceptive.
“….”
Eun-chan looked around.
Just as Ha-jin said, the restaurant was filled with office workers who’d come to eat during lunch hour, each engrossed in their own conversations. The table where Eun-chan and Ha-jin sat was on the outermost edge, so few people passed by.
As the warm broth settled in my stomach, bringing comfort throughout, Eun-chan opened up a bit and shared what was truly on his mind.
“My feelings are so strange.”
“Because of Sung-woo hyung?”
“I thought Sung-woo hyung might hate me. He was pushed out even in the Special Class, and he’s older, so he’d be more desperate to debut. But then they said I was a parachute hire. I thought that could happen.”
Yet despite being burdened with the suspicion of being a parachute hire, Sung-woo treated me kindly, and there were moments when I wondered if he was truly such a good and understanding person. I even found myself troubled and self-reproachful, thinking I was wrong for finding him uncomfortable and difficult.
“But now that I know Sung-woo hyung was actually the parachute hire… and seeing how the other trainees’ attitudes changed overnight. I have so many thoughts.”
The hyungs who’d been ignoring and mocking me until yesterday approached me today with pitiful eyes, patting my shoulder and saying I must have suffered alone all this time.
When I denied it, no one believed me. But the moment a different rumor started spreading, everyone suddenly claimed something felt off and took my side.
Eun-chan couldn’t make sense of any of it.
“I’m still the same person… I don’t hate my hyungs, but something just feels weird. It’s uncomfortable seeing their faces. We’re supposed to practice together.”
“….”
“I want to understand them, but I can’t seem to manage it, and that frustrates me. If things were going to be like this, why did they treat me that way back then? Why me specifically? Those thoughts keep running through my head….”
Ha-jin quietly observed Eun-chan as he lowered his head.
Then he carefully chose his words. He found himself hesitating, unsure what he should say.
What Ha-jin brought up was a very old, worn story.
“I’ve been through something like that too.”
“Pardon?”
“I was ostracized before. At my previous agency.”
“…You were, hyung?”
“Look at you. You’ve got the exact same expression as Kim Won-ho.”
I raised my eyebrows and asked with a slight smirk—did my being a social outcast really seem so unbelievable? Eun-chan carefully nodded in response.
“Of course, in my case, well, how do I put it. Some of it was my fault too. Back then I was different from now… um.”
Ha-jin’s expression twisted slightly as he retraced memories that had grown hazy and fragmented with time.
“I think I was a bit selfish back then, too. Well, I’m not perfectly altruistic even now, but.”
“….”
“My words were much harsher than they are now, and I think I tried to do everything alone.”
“…I can’t really picture that.”
“Yeah? But even I thought my personality was rotten back then. I’ve mellowed out a lot since then. After that incident.”
Ha-jin recalled ‘that incident’.
The day I was rejected by people for the first time.
“I went to the practice room one day, and there was no one there. I thought the kids were just running late, so I waited. But no matter how long I waited, they didn’t show up. They wouldn’t even answer their calls.”
Back then, I figured these bastards had probably skipped out and gotten themselves into some mess somewhere.
Ha-jin scratched beneath his eye slightly as he recalled a scene that remained vivid despite the passage of time.
“I was heading upstairs to tell the manager, when I heard the kids’ voices coming from somewhere. I went to check, and there they all were, gathered in a different practice room. There was the smell of sweat, music playing.”
At first, I thought I’d just received the wrong practice room information.
I was about to confront them, angry that no one had told me about the change, when a trainee my age slowly approached me.
“He told me. He said they’d decided not to practice with me anymore. And then they laughed about it among themselves.”
“….”
“When I asked why they suddenly did that, they listed out all the reasons they disliked me, one by one.”
Even though so much time had passed, thinking back on it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Ha-jin took a sip of water to soothe the sting, then looked at Eun-chan. Eun-chan was frowning deeply, as if he were the one who had experienced it.
“That’s when I first realized it. Ah, I speak harshly. I’m clumsy at considering others’ feelings. Without knowing it, I was hurting people. I couldn’t let that happen again.”
That was when Ha-jin understood. How terrifying ostracism truly was. How agonizing it was to breathe in a space where everyone hated me.
So after that day, Ha-jin struggled to become a better person. He tried to speak kindly, tried to be considerate, and made endless efforts to be part of the group.
But even so, even if he had shortcomings.
Even if that incident had made him a better person.
“Chan.”
“…Yes.”
“Even knowing the reason, it was still hard.”
“….”
“Even knowing I was at fault, it was still that difficult, you know?”
The fear I felt once didn’t fade easily.
“After that, whenever my friends talked about something I didn’t know, I’d get scared. I even developed a habit of watching their expressions after I spoke.”
“….”
“Sometimes my chest would tighten and my heart would race just from someone calling my name. I’d wonder if I’d done something wrong.”
Even recently, living through the fourth loop, hadn’t I been having those nightmares?
Ha-ru smiled bitterly as he recalled those past nights.
“So it’s only natural that you feel wronged and hurt. How could you suddenly laugh and joke with them? I’m telling you this, but it took me years to be okay with it.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. Hey, that Shin Young-ho and his crew? I know all about them. Ugh, pathetic bastards. If they had any conscience, they’d apologize. Just don’t associate with them until they do. Actually, want me to make them apologize? Want me to get it out of them? Just say the word.”
Memories of his time in Team B surfaced, and Ha-ru grew more animated, launching into an impassioned speech before taking a large bite of meat. But Eun-chan simply sat there, lost in thought.
Ha-ru didn’t press further, simply continuing with his meal.
The kid was smarter and tougher than expected—he’d manage just fine with this much.
“….”
As Eun-chan sat quietly thinking, his expression gradually relaxed, just as Ha-ru had anticipated. Ha-ru smiled knowingly, as if he’d expected this, and asked.
“Feel a bit better?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now let’s add the noodles. You’ve been waiting so long the broth’s almost evaporated.”
At Ha-ru’s casual return to normalcy, Eun-chan laughed this time. Anyone could see it was a comfortable, relieved laugh.
“Ha-ru.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
“….”
“I really wanted to say it at least once.”
[System Alert: ‘Ju Eun-chan’ is responding to you. (Response Rate: 86%)]
[‘Ju Eun-chan’ can now be recruited.]
[Will you recruit? (Y/N)]
Along with Eun-chan’s thanks, the familiar—no, now welcome—recruitment window appeared.
But Ha-ru found himself more pleased by the fact that Eun-chan trusted him this much than by recruiting a promising candidate.
“…Yeah. You’ve been through a lot too, all this time.”
Ha-ru had just obtained his fifth companion.
And Ha-ru was quite pleased about it.

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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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