Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 332. Our Child Has Changed (3)

Like a mad scientist discovering an interesting new brain cell, Nam Daun scrutinized Dan Haru from various angles, furrowing his brows.

“Did something happen? You seem upset.”

As expected, to an ordinary person, “Has something happened?” was a more natural question than “Has he changed?”

I could sense Dan Haru looking at me, unsure of how to respond. He had done the best he could, and now it was my turn to step in.

“Haru’s not feeling well because he’s been overworking himself preparing for the comeback, hyung. That’s why we were trying to get him back to the dorm to rest.”

“Really? No wonder he seemed so calm today. I almost didn’t recognize him from a distance.”

“Exactly. If Haru doesn’t seem like himself, you can imagine how badly he’s feeling, right, hyung? Oh, look at him sweating. We need to get him to bed right away. Right, Yugeon? Help support Haru.”

“Huh? …Oh, yeah, sure.”

In a hurry to respond to Nam Daun, who had almost stumbled upon the truth by instinct alone, I discreetly nudged Lee Yugeon in the side with my elbow.

He let out a gasp and bent forward, but luckily he caught on quickly. He rushed over to grab Dan Haru’s shoulder, and Lee Doha joined in, awkwardly patting Dan Haru’s back with his large hand.

At that point, Dan Haru must have decided that it was better to play along with being sick. He leaned into Lee Yugeon and pretended to be exhausted. His performance was surprisingly convincing.

“Oh dear, I’ve been keeping a sick kid here. Go on, hurry back. I’ll send some cookies to the dorm, so make sure to eat them.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. We’re always grateful for your kindness. We’ll be on our way now….”

“Alright, take care and go safely~”

Not missing the chance to escape, we quickly and efficiently made our exit. Choi Yeonwoo seemed a bit disappointed that we hadn’t talked much, but if we stayed there for even five more minutes, Dan Haru might have exploded from frustration.

Fortunately, nothing happened as we took the elevator down to the first floor. We encountered a few company employees, but we just exchanged greetings and quickly moved on. Now, all that was left was to get out through the back door, hail a taxi, and head to the dorm.

‘Please, please. Don’t let the managers be there, please….’

If we ran into any of the managers who might be out for a smoke, it would easily add another ten minutes to our delay. And if it wasn’t the managers, then running into any of the sasaeng fans lurking around the company would be even worse.

We crept outside like stealthy cats. It was still early in the morning, so the area outside the building was quite deserted. Fortunately, there were no managers or sasaeng fans in sight.

“Oh? Who do we have here?”

“…….”

“It’s our youngest members!”

“……Hello, sir.”

…Instead, we ran into the CEO.

Standing next to the shiny foreign car that had picked up Lee Yugeon and Seo Taehyun at the college entrance exam site.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to be on an overseas tour with Utopia?’

But I quickly realized the absurdity of my thoughts, remembering that I had just seen Utopia’s main dancer a few moments ago. Trying to hide my dismay, I clamped my mouth shut. CEO Han Sewon, who had apparently enjoyed a splendid vacation overseas, approached us with a friendly smile, his face tanned and covered by sunglasses.

“Where are you headed? Don’t you only have an evening schedule today? I thought I heard that from Manager Kim earlier.”

“Ah, w-we’re heading… to the dorm….”

“I see. How are you planning to get there?”

“By taxi… No, we were going to walk… No, I mean….”

“I can’t let our precious youngest members take a taxi! Hop in! I’ll give you a ride.”

“No, no, it’s okay….”

“Come on, don’t be shy. Get in. Yugeon, you’ve been in my car before, right?”

“Well, yes, but—urk…!”

Before anyone could object, we were all ushered into the shiny foreign car by the broad-shouldered CEO Han Sewon. Since I, Lee Doha, and Lee Yugeon were all crammed into the back seat, Dan Haru, who was last in line, was forced to sit in the front passenger seat.

“Uh, sir! I could sit in the front…!”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m close with Haru. I’ve known him longer than you, Hajin. Right, Haru?”

“…Yes.”

Dan Haru glanced back at the three of us squeezed in the back seat, then nodded and got into the passenger seat.

Once we were inside, there was no getting out. Accepting our fate, I leaned back against the seat.

Or I tried to, if it weren’t for Lee Doha’s shoulder pressing into mine.

“Ow!”

“Oh, sorry. I tried to move, but….”

“…No, it’s fine.”

At the other end, I saw Lee Yugeon folded nearly in half, his whole body pressed against the window. Nodding to show I was okay, I curled my shoulders and leaned as close to the window as possible. If someone outside accidentally opened the door, I’d probably roll out onto the ground.

From the front passenger seat, Dan Haru turned his head to look at us.

“……?”

Seeing us crammed into the back like clowns, Dan Haru stuck his tongue out and turned away. Did he just make a face at me!?

‘Wait till we get back to the dorm….’

Give me back my cute little Sparkling….

I was seriously starting to wonder how we would ever explain this guy to the members and the fans.

* * *

“Your comeback is soon, right?”

“Ah, yes. We’re working hard to prepare.”

The distance from the company to the dorm was longer than I expected. I was worried about what to talk about during the ride, but CEO Han Sewon naturally started a conversation.

“That’s good. A lot has happened within the company recently. I hope you guys achieve great results. I listened to your title track, and it was fun. Whose idea was the concept?”

“Oh…. The initial concept was mine, but the lyrics and composition were mostly done by Seo Taeil-sunbaenim and others.”

It wasn’t humility, just the truth.

I had suggested the concept for the title track, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the final song was 90% the work of Seo Taeil and the other production team.

But Lee Doha immediately countered my words.

“Hajin came up with the key concept for the song. His input heavily influenced the lyrics and melody. That’s why everyone insisted that his name be included in the lyric credits.”

“Really? Hajin, you’re a treasure~”

“Huh? No, I mean….”

Even though I’d lived through quite a bit of praise since debuting as an idol, I still wasn’t immune to direct compliments like this, especially when I didn’t feel I deserved it.

In reality, I hadn’t written a single line of the lyrics for *There Is No Spring.*

While my ideas had been incorporated, all I did was tweak existing phrases to better match our concept. If it hadn’t been for Seo Taeil and Lee Doha’s insistence that “even if you contributed just a letter, your name should be in the credits,” my name wouldn’t have been listed among the songwriters.

“…….”

Thinking about the title track brought up many thoughts.

As I thought about our activities, memories of the fanbase war that I had momentarily forgotten came flooding back, along with thoughts of Lanion, who made a huge comeback in March, long before us…. And then I started to worry about how the “Youth Trilogy,” which I had pushed for, would be received by the public.

It was as if CEO Han Sewon could read all my thoughts. Glancing at the backseat through the rearview mirror, he asked in his characteristic hearty voice,

“Hajin, are you confident?”

“…Pardon?”

“Are you confident about this album? Are you proud enough to call it your song wherever you go?”

Was I confident?

I pondered for a moment.

Then I answered.

“Yes.”

CEO Han Sewon chuckled and patted Dan Haru’s shoulder next to him.

“That’s all that matters.”

And that was the end of the album discussion.

CEO Han Sewon smoothly transitioned to a different topic, entertaining us with a story about how shocked Lee Yugeon and Seo Taehyun were when they saw him at the exam site. Even Dan Haru, who had been sitting quietly with a sullen expression, couldn’t help but smile.

With that, the tension in my muscles began to ease. The mental fog that had clouded my mind started to dissipate.

‘…Now I understand why Seo Taeil sticks with this company no matter what.’

I began to feel envious of Seo Taeil’s life.

What kind of luck allowed him to meet such people at a young age and build relationships that lasted through so many changes? Was it fate, or was it something only Seo Taeil could have achieved?

‘If only I had met such people back then….’

Along with that came memories of my own past, filled with failures.

Were my failures due to my shortcomings, bad timing, or just an unsuitable environment?

My gaze naturally shifted to Dan Haru

in the front seat.

Through the rearview mirror, I could see his unfamiliar cynical expression, occasionally softened by a faint smile, as if he too was lost in thought.

I wondered if he was thinking similar thoughts.

The unanswered questions kept piling up. I turned my gaze to the window instead.

The Han River view outside the tinted windows was unnecessarily beautiful.

* * *

CEO Han Sewon graciously drove us all the way to the underground parking lot of our dorm.

I was grateful because it was more comfortable than taking a taxi, but the CEO even got out to see us off. I thought dropping us off in front of the building would have sufficed, but his concern for his artists seemed almost excessive.

“Take care, and I look forward to seeing you shine this year, my youngest.”

“Yes, sir. Have a safe trip back.”

“Haru, make sure to take care of your health, okay? And how’s your grandmother doing?”

At CEO Han Sewon’s last comment, the smile on Dan Haru’s face froze. The CEO, not noticing, furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Wait, hold on. Was it your grandmother? Why did I bring that up?”

The “fake family” setup created by the Chosen Regressor and Dolja had been erased since the personality fusion at the villa. Except for those who had awakened to the timeline like Dan Haru and me, no one else could clearly recall Dan Haru’s family.

‘I hadn’t realized how exactly the setup was erased, but I didn’t expect it to come back at us like this….’

I briefly considered whether this was another one of Dolja’s tricks, but CEO Han Sewon’s reaction didn’t seem to suggest that. It seemed he had unconsciously asked the question due to a leftover fragment of memory, and now he was just as confused.

“This is strange, haha. For some reason, seeing Haru made me think of his grandmother… I must be getting old.”

“…It was the director.”

“What?”

“I think you meant the director of the orphanage who took care of me. She came as my guardian when I signed with the company.”

“…Ah! Yes, that’s it. Oh, my memory is really slipping these days.”

CEO Han Sewon, realizing his mistake, waved his hands in embarrassment. After processing the fact that Dan Haru was an orphan, he tactfully stopped talking and opened the car door.

He must have realized it was time for him to leave.

“Alright then. Go get some rest. I’ll be off. See you next time, kids. Hajin, feel free to reach out if you need anything.”

“Yes, sir. Take care.”

“Alright. I’m leaving. Get upstairs now.”

And with that, the always-flashy foreign car drove out of the parking lot like the wind.

An awkward silence lingered among the four of us. I could sense that Lee Doha and Lee Yugeon, like me, were subtly watching Dan Haru. It was clear that Dan Haru’s mood had plummeted far more than when he had managed a few faint smiles in the car.

“…What are you standing around for? Let’s go up.”

“Oh, right. Let’s go.”

But once again, it was Dan Haru who broke the silence and urged us to move.

Once the embodiment of carefree innocence, Dan Haru’s face was now filled with loneliness, sorrow, and bitterness. But just as he was adept at feeling these emotions, he was also skilled at hiding them.

“…I checked the group chat earlier, and it seems like both Seo Taehyun and Siwoo-hyung are out right now. So you can relax at the dorm. Since we’re sharing a room, you don’t have to act in there either.”

As we took the elevator up to the dorm, Lee Yugeon spoke to Dan Haru in a casual tone. Understanding that it was his way of showing concern, Dan Haru nodded without much reaction.

Lee Doha and I also chimed in, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, don’t worry. The guys here know what’s going on, so just take it easy. If things get tough, you can join us in the studio. At least we can cover for you there.”

“Hmm…. Maybe you should start learning how to work in the studio too.”

“And you haven’t had breakfast, right? Since it’s just us here, let’s eat something. What do you want? Pick whatever you want, and I’ll get it for you.”

We deliberately chattered on as we quickly exited the elevator and entered the dorm.

But the moment we opened the door, we realized we had forgotten something important.

“How about some meat? We can’t eat it when Seo Taehyun is here, so we should take advantage while we can….”

“Oh, you guys are back?”

“…….”

As we entered, we were greeted by Joo Eunchan, who was chugging a carton of milk with one hand. He looked even more delighted when he saw Dan Haru walk in behind us, flashing a bright smile.

“Haru’s here too? I brought that game console from home I mentioned earlier. Want to play now?”

Our Eunchan… had been discharged from the hospital, right….

We had completely forgotten about this unexpected obstacle.