Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut - Chapter 90

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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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90. Bomb? (1)
Days passed while I remained filled with suspicion about Lee Yu-gun.
And today was the day the highly anticipated second episode of Miro Maze would air.
“Alright~ the chicken has arrived~.”
This place—Joo Eun-chan’s House living room—had become so familiar it felt half like my own home.
The one bringing the freshly delivered chicken was Kim Won-ho, not Seo Tae-hyun as usual.
“We’re grateful for this meal!”
“Dan Ha-ru, in moments like these you should direct your gratitude to the right person.”
“And who would that be?”
“The person who bought this chicken.”
At that, Dan Ha-ru’s gaze and mine turned simultaneously toward the same direction.
Joo Eun-chan, who had been leaning against the sofa in the center, felt our stares and drew a question mark across his face.
“…Should I call my brother on video chat or something?”
“That would be rude, so instead I’ll offer my respects while looking at you, who resembles him. Thank you, Eun-seok hyung.”
“Thank you, Eun-seok hyung!”
“What’s with this atmosphere? Then I’ll also say, thank you, Eun-seok hyung~.”
Even Kim Won-ho, who had been setting up the chicken, joined us and bowed respectfully to Joo Eun-chan.
Then Joo Eun-chan, who had been operating the remote to turn on the Ntv channel on the TV, spoke while gripping the remote tightly.
“Stop before I tell all of you to get out.”
“Yes.”
“Roger.”
“Let’s eat, let’s eat~.”
So today was essentially a gathering where we’d watch the second episode of Miro Maze together while eating something delicious that Eun-seok had paid for with his card at Joo Eun-chan’s house.
-My brother sent me his card to buy my friends something delicious….
-Doesn’t he usually just send you spending money?
Barely recovering from my shock at this incomprehensible world of the wealthy, Joo Eun-chan had asked me to find other trainees to join us.
-Now that the parachute problem is resolved, I want to get closer with the other hyungs. But, um.
-…Understood.
And so the recruitment for Joo Eun-chan’s housewarming party began.
The recruitment criteria were ‘those who happened to be free today and were staying at the Dormitory instead of going home’.
…Among them, only people who wouldn’t make Joo Eun-chan feel awkward.
This was the combination that ended up gathering.
Me, Kim Won-ho, Dan Ha-ru, and….
“Eun-chan, I took a towel from the storage cabinet since there weren’t any out.”
“Oh, yes. That’s fine, hyung. You can use that.”
…Lee Do-ha as well.
I wondered when Joo Eun-chan had gotten close with Kim Won-ho, but it seemed they’d started talking during the second mission, Cinderella, when they were on the same team.
‘Seo Tae-hyun requested an overnight pass today because his Mother and Uncle were coming up for the first time in a while.’
I didn’t ask about the others. I wasn’t interested.
Now that I think about it, I did hear something when leaving the Dormitory.
“Hey, honey. I put in a request for an overnight pass today. Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll just wear a hat and mask. Hehe~.”
…It seemed the trainees with swollen egos were starting to show their true colors one by one.
‘I couldn’t see his face, but that voice was unmistakably Shin Young-ho.’
Yeah, it was about time for the cooldown period where the kids’ scandals would start erupting one after another.
The Entertainment Agency only gathered strong personalities, and while they did conduct thorough background checks on trainees, scandals were scandals for a reason.
Those destined to blow up will blow up. And in this game, even those who shouldn’t are made to blow up.
‘I just desperately hope that’s not me.’
Lost in such thoughts, Kim Won-ho, who had been tearing into chicken, waved his hand in front of my face.
“You look distracted.”
“What are you thinking about so hard with chicken right in front of you? Heat stroke?”
He asked in genuine surprise, so I quietly dropped a fact that was even more shocking.
“Shin Young-ho’s dating someone.”
“What!?”
“Huh?”
“Who?”
The reaction was explosive as expected. But after the initial shock, they all seemed to accept it as if they’d known it all along.
“Actually, he had a girlfriend before too. Back when you were all in the Special Class, he snuck his girlfriend into the company and got caught by Team Leader Young-ho.”
“Whoa, isn’t that not allowed?”
“Of course it’s not allowed. He almost got fired back then, but Han Sung-woo covered for him or something.”
Damn it. Even so, another scandal like that here….
The moment that name came up, I instinctively checked Ju Eun-chan’s expression first.
But contrary to my worry, Ju Eun-chan was conversing with Kim Won-ho with a surprisingly unbothered face.
“So that’s why he tried so hard to look good to Han Sung-woo.”
“Right? Man, I should’ve noticed something was off back then. Who would’ve guessed that guy was a parachute hire?”
“Yeah. But we won’t have to see him anymore anyway, so.”
Ju Eun-chan’s face as he said this looked calm. Just like always.
So the most fundamental defense against peer violence really is separating the perpetrator from the victim.
“…?”
Then my gaze met Dan Ha-ru’s. He seemed to be watching Ju Eun-chan’s reaction similarly. Probably because he knew the situation better than anyone else, he was more concerned.
‘Looking at it, that guy’s situational awareness is pretty….’
One more person added to the list of those I can’t fully analyze.
I’d leaned considerably toward suspecting Lee Yu-gun, but I absolutely couldn’t let my guard down until it was confirmed.
“Oh, now that I think about it, I heard something about Han Sung-woo lately.”
‘Stop it, you bastard…!’
During the General Class days, he apparently did nothing but dance with Yun Tae-hee. Kim Won-ho seemed completely unaware that Ju Eun-chan had been ostracized by Han Sung-woo.
‘Though I guess my instincts were just too sharp.’
How subtly that bastard Han Sung-woo had excluded him—before I said anything, even Ji Su-ho and the New Artist Development Team staff didn’t know. There’s no problem with Kim Won-ho bringing it up so casually.
Besides, the recent news about Han Sung-woo that Kim Won-ho had heard was too shocking.
“…What’s he doing?”
“He enlisted. His father apparently shaved his head and personally took him to enlist?”
“Father, your father is coming personally?”
“I don’t know. Whatever accident he caused, he’s been completely cut off by the family too.”
Joo Eun-chan’s face, which had been maintaining composure until then, twisted subtly. He seemed unsure how to react to such an absurd conclusion.
I stuffed a chicken leg into Eun-chan’s mouth and turned back to Kim Won-ho with a question.
“Where did you hear that? Is it credible?”
“I overheard Shin Kyung-ho talking about it with his clique on the day of the sports day.”
And at that point, I was the one who received a shock.
“Wait. Shin Kyung-ho? Not Shin Young-ho?”
It felt like the world was collapsing. His name wasn’t Shin Young-ho?
“Ah, right? I’ve been calling him Shin Young-ho this whole time, haven’t I? My ears weren’t wrong, were they?”
“His name isn’t Shin Young-ho?”
“No. Why are you changing someone else’s name arbitrarily? Yeah, that’s why. I thought I’d misheard earlier too.”
“He’s really not Shin Young-ho?”
“No. It’s Shin Kyung-ho.”
This couldn’t be right.
It felt like discovering that the white sheep I’d thought he was all this time was actually a gray goat.
“Anyway, his name isn’t the important thing right now. How did Shin Kyung-ho even find out about that?”
“How did he find out?”
Dan Ha-ru’s eyes sparkled with light. His expression was one of absolute determination to hear about that bastard’s pathetic downfall.
“Apparently Han Sung-woo called Shin Kyung-ho from the military asking to borrow some money. He was crying and rambling on about his circumstances.”
“From the military?”
“Yeah. From the military.”
At those words, everyone sitting there nodded slightly with a low “mm~”. Even Lee Do-ha, who had been listening without saying a word!
‘If he enlisted now… he’d be twenty-four when discharged? His idol debut is off the table.’
Since the military is somewhere people can’t go to even if they want to these days, the fact that they sent him in right away like this meant… at minimum, the front lines were guaranteed.
And on top of that, he’d been cut off even by his family, his only backing. It seemed like the perfect ending for a kid who’d tried to prosper through money.
It was so satisfying that I wanted to hear more, but unfortunately the gossip session ended there.
Finally, Episode 2 was starting.
“Oh, here we go. Here we go.”
It seemed like everyone was monitoring a broadcast together for the first time.
I looked at Lee Do-ha sitting next to me, who had ended up coming along simply because he was Kim Won-ho’s roommate.
“Hey. You okay? Not uncomfortable?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“I just thought I called you too suddenly. Kim Won-ho said you’d be at the Dormitory today anyway, so he suggested we watch together.”
Even though Lee Do-ha was from the same Special Class, he didn’t seem particularly close with Eun-chan or Ha-ru.
Still, it would be awkward to take only one of two guys living in the same room.
Lee Do-ha readily accepted my invitation, which I’d asked without much expectation, and I was actually the one who was more taken aback.
Lee Do-ha, who had been quietly listening to my words, turned the question back on me instead.
“Is it possible that my being here is making you uncomfortable?”
“What? Don’t talk nonsense. If I was uncomfortable, would I have invited you?”
“If you’re not uncomfortable, then I don’t mind.”
Lee Do-ha spoke matter-of-factly while picking up his drink.
Since he was the type to state things clearly and definitively, it seemed he genuinely wasn’t uncomfortable with this gathering.
‘Well, that works then.’
Either way, I couldn’t tolerate anyone feeling uneasy when we’d all gathered together like this.
After checking once more that Lee Do-ha’s expression wasn’t off, I turned my attention back to the TV, where the first episode’s story was being rapidly condensed on screen.
“Today they’ll just show the performance and results, right?”
“Probably. It seems like they’ve already shown everything from the practice scenes.”
I answered Dan Ha-ru’s question while dipping a french fry into ketchup.
‘Ah. I want to check the reactions, but I can’t use my phone with everyone here.’
I decided to do reaction monitoring tomorrow and just watch episode two comfortably for now.
The practice process of Team A and Team B continued from the previous episode.
While the first episode had focused on showing each trainee’s personality and character, the second episode seemed to emphasize ‘how they became one team.’
-I keep telling myself I absolutely can’t be a burden to the team….
“Wow…. That’s some serious fakeness.”
“Ha-ru, you just said what you were actually thinking out loud.”
Shin Kyung-ho’s thoroughly repugnant interview, which he’d been called out on by Seo Tae-il during the mid-point check, had aired.
I whispered cautiously to Dan Ha-ru, who was saying aloud what everyone was only thinking, and he responded without blinking once, savagely tearing into squid as he spoke.
“I wish I could say it to his face.”
“Yeah. I see.”
It really seemed like Dan Ha-ru could look Shin Kyung-ho straight in the eye and say something like that.
As I quietly nodded, Seo Tae-il’s evaluation continued on screen.
-But Kang Ha-jin didn’t show any greed this time either, did he?
Seo Tae-il’s comment and my close-up of me looking up in surprise were captured. The next scene immediately cut to Seo Tae-il’s interview.
【Q. How would you evaluate trainee Kang Ha-jin?】
-Hmm…. Kang Ha-jin.
The interview room had a black background with the Miro Maze title logo glowing in neon.
Seo Tae-il, sitting on a high bar stool, crossed his arms and made a contemplative gesture.
I felt a bit tense. After all, this was an evaluation of me being made somewhere I couldn’t see or hear.
-I actually have really high expectations for Kang Ha-jin.
“Wow, the trainee Seo Tae-il favors speaking—boom.”
“Everyone talks like that in interviews anyway. I mean, he can’t say ‘that bastard Kang Ha-jin,’ right?'”
I was about to counter Kim Won-ho’s premature excitement when the next line came.
And that statement was something I could never have imagined.
-I actually think Kang Ha-jin has a lot of similarities with me.
“Is it real then?”
Me? Similar to whom?
To Seo Tae-il, the transcendent-class leader of a 13-year veteran idol?
…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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