Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 334: First Strike Wins (1)

I knew.

What I knew was, I understood Dan Haru’s inferiority complex.

‘…Yeah, it must be upsetting for him too.’

If you were to split Dan Haru’s life so far into two halves—hope and despair—Dan Haru, standing there, was a person who had only lived through the despair half. All while hoping that the Dan Haru on the hopeful side was happy.

But now, the hopeful Dan Haru that he had completed by sacrificing everything had evaporated. The real Dan Haru, who he thought would either disappear or be absorbed, suddenly found himself dropped right in the middle of that hopeful life. And as if that wasn’t enough, now they’re asking him to imitate it?

Yeah, yeah. It must be confusing and terrifying.

‘Eunchan must be feeling something complicated and difficult about this too.’

I didn’t need to hear directly to know what kind of emotions Dan Haru harbored towards Eunchan.

Why? Because I felt the same way.

‘It’s probably similar to how I feel about Jung Siwoo or Seo Taeil.’

Admiration, wanting to be like them,

Disappointment in myself for not being able to become like them,

Jealousy and envy for having what I don’t,

And self-blame, wondering what made us different.

If we were in the off-season after all the activities had ended, I might have taken the time to help this Dan Haru adjust to the present and gradually find himself and move forward.

‘…If we were in the off-season, that is.’

The problem was that now was a hyperactive period, right on the brink of a comeback.

Moreover, as I had confirmed on the way here, the fan wars that started with those toxic solo stans and almost led to the fandom splitting apart were becoming more complicated. Although most of the sharp fans had quickly resolved it on the surface, in reality, it was all just forcibly pushed below the surface. The conflicts within the fandom were deepening at this very moment.

In such cases, even if things seemed peaceful at first, the unresolved issues would eventually explode like landmines when something similar happens again, with a 56,891% chance of going off.

How do I know? I didn’t want to know either.

‘And right now, the biggest landmine is exactly between Dan Haru and Joo Eunchan. If the slightest discord sprouts between those two, it’s going to be a mess for both you and me.’

When a fight that was one-sidedly lost is forcibly mediated and buried, of course, the side that was beaten gets pissed.

In this recent fan war, the side that got ‘beaten’ was Dan Haru’s fandom. For now, they were holding back in the name of group peace and because the two were close enough to be almost dear to each other.

The moment they realize that things aren’t quite the same between them as before, the scales of peace will crumble.

Is that all? If Dan Haru loses his existing position as the ‘beloved youngest adored by the older members,’ he’ll instantly become prey to those toxic solo stans with eyes full of venom.

And me? I had no intention of seeing Dan Haru, whether he was sparkling or covered in gold dust, end up like that.

“…I’ll act properly in front of others. You saw me earlier, didn’t you? How I was doing.”

“……”

“There’ll be a difference from the real Dan Haru, of course, but making sure there’s no problem when the real one returns is also my job, so I’ll cooperate properly. So please, just let me cool my head alone….”

“Geez, since earlier, seriously, seriously.”

“……”

“Hey, don’t wallow in self-pity. It gets boring after a while.”

I abruptly cut off the muttering Dan Haru, who had been mumbling to himself. I wanted to believe it was my T side kicking in, but it felt more like my incredibly rude past self had popped out. It reminded me of how disgusted I felt when I had a fight with Jung Siwoo back then.

“Hey, Sparkling.”

“…I told you not to call me that, didn’t I?”

“Then what? Take your pick. Haru, Bunny Hero, or Maknae—how should I call you? I only call our maknae like this.”

Sorry, but you’re not Joo Eunchan or Lee Doha. Even if you glare at me with Dan Haru’s face, you’re still just Dan Haru. No matter how hard a baby bunny hero might struggle after saving the world, a bunny is still a bunny. Just because it grows a horn, does it become a rhinoceros?

I crossed my arms and stood crookedly, openly mocking Dan Haru. I wanted him to get as pissed as possible.

“So, what, you’re saying that trying to act all lovely and adored when it’s not in your nature is driving you crazy? Is that why you were swatting Eunchan’s hand away earlier?”

“……”

“But who told you to do that?”

“What?”

Dan Haru furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding what I was saying. Of course, he wouldn’t get it. I was skipping all the preambles and talking however I wanted.

In situations like this, actions spoke louder than words. I strode straight towards Dan Haru, grabbed his wrist as he instinctively raised his guard, and pulled him out of the room. The monstrous strength wasn’t just an act—it was real—because I almost lost my grip on him several times along the way, which was a bit embarrassing, but fortunately, I didn’t let go in the end.

It was a moment when all the strength training I had done paid off.

“Everyone, attention! Gather around, I’ve got something to say.”

Dragging Dan Haru behind me, I walked into the living room. Lee Yugeon, Joo Eunchan, and Lee Doha, who had been huddled on the sofa playing PlayStation, paused and looked up at us. Jung Siwoo, who had been making misutgaru in the kitchen, and Seo Taehyun, who had been in his room, also strolled into the living room after hearing my voice.

It was the first time in a while that all seven of us had gathered in the dorm’s living room, and I found that quite refreshing.

“Why? What’s going on?”

Seo Taehyun asked with a puzzled expression. Lee Yugeon, who had paused the game, quietly put down the controller with a face that said, ‘No way.’

It was understandable. My face probably said, ‘I’m about to cause some trouble.’

Using the momentum, I pulled Dan Haru, who was still trying to free his wrist from my grip, forward. I could see him biting down hard on his lower lip, suddenly finding himself the center of attention.

In that situation, I threw the first punch.

“Dan Haru is going through puberty.”

“…What?”

Jung Siwoo, who had been nonchalantly stirring his misutgaru while leaning against the wall, nearly stumbled and asked again. Normally, a reaction like that would seem pretty lame, but maybe because his face was so good-looking, even that looked like a scene from a movie.

‘Tch, I’m jealous.’

With that thought, I stepped on the landmine lying beneath us once again, making it explode with a bang.

“Our maknae is going through puberty. He says he hates and dislikes everything. His emotions are all over the place, he’s wondering what the point of living is, who he is, and even feels like he’s not himself.”

Come to think of it, it made sense.

Kids grow up so fast, don’t they? They say you close your eyes, open them, and they’ve grown 5cm. Sleep and wake up, and they’ve grown 10cm. In such a rapid growth period where big changes happen, isn’t it natural that personalities can change overnight?

Moreover, according to the tests conducted by Nam Daun and Han Sewon, it seemed almost impossible for the average person to come to the conclusion that ‘his personality has changed.’

If that’s the case, instead of having Dan Haru A imitate Dan Haru B, risking unintentionally planting landmines like earlier, it was better to lay everything out from the start and let them navigate around it.

Sure enough, Seo Taehyun, who had the highest empathy among us, was already gazing at Dan Haru with a sentimental look, a gentle smile forming on his lips.

“Yeah, that can happen. So that’s why you’ve been spending so much time thinking alone lately? I was super sensitive last year and the year before too. It looks like you’ve hit that phase now, Haru.”

With Seo Taehyun’s emotional comment, I subtly nudged Lee Doha in the side. He had been sitting there with a dumb look, trying to figure out the situation, but finally caught on and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“Ah… yeah, it’s like, the identity exploration↗ period during adolescence is a necessary narrative, I mean, it’s like growing pains… or something like that. Going through that process might actually help when expressing various emotions as a singer… Hmm, well, it could be something like that.”

It was suspicious how someone who never fumbled with lyrics was suddenly stammering, but most of the members seemed more shocked by the fact that our bright maknae was going through such a fierce puberty.

Well, Yugeon, who knew the truth, seemed more shocked by my bold declaration, but that wasn’t my problem. After all, we had all agreed together to push the ‘Dan Haru’s puberty theory.’

I shameless

ly added more.

“So, if our Haru is a bit pricklier than before, let’s all understand with generous hearts. We’re his hyungs, right? Everyone okay with that?”

I deliberately emphasized the word ‘hyung’ and looked at Joo Eunchan.

It was already a foregone conclusion that Joo Eunchan, who was dying to act like a big brother to Dan Haru despite only being a year older, would nod eagerly at that.

“I noticed he wasn’t feeling well earlier, and I was worried I might have messed up. But I guess that wasn’t the case. What a relief.”

Looking visibly relieved, Joo Eunchan handed the controller to Dan Haru with a boyish smile. Dan Haru stared at the Joy-Con being offered to him for a moment, then sighed and accepted it, saying,

“…You didn’t do anything wrong to me, hyung. There’s nothing like that.”

His tone was a bit unfamiliar compared to the cheerful, upbeat Dan Haru from earlier, but it was much more natural.

‘This should ease the members’ worries.’

But this wasn’t enough.

Right now, the fandom cracks were deepening in real time, and something drastic was needed to fix that.

“…What are you thinking now?”

Having passed the controller to Joo Eunchan, Lee Yugeon approached me and whispered quietly. He must have sensed that I still had something up my sleeve.

But it was already too late. I had already found and dialed Hyung Wook’s number on my phone, having made up my mind.

“Are you going to keep doing impulsive things on your own? Please at least warn me before you do something crazy.”

“If I warn you, is it still crazy? That’s just polite, right? …Oh, hello? Hyung, it’s Hajin.”

I used the call as an excuse to cut off whatever Yugeon was about to say. Pretending I couldn’t hear him well, I naturally turned my back on Yugeon and responded to Hyung Wook’s question with a calm voice.

“Oh, it’s nothing serious. The meeting today is for the Kairos team’s preliminary item discussion, right? Where we give our input on what we want to do.”

-Oh? Yeah. That’s the one where PD Kwon and Writer Go are coming. Why? Do you have a good idea?

“Yes. I’ve come up with a killer one.”

“…Wow. That’s a face I wouldn’t want to be on the same team with.”

Seeing my sinister smile, Yugeon shook his head in disbelief. But I didn’t care. As I watched Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru awkwardly playing together in the living room, I continued my call.

“We’ve been too squeaky clean as idols.”

-What? Hey, Hajin. What are you trying to say…?

“It’s time we got tangled up in something nasty.”

First strike wins.

I was planning to launch a massive missile to end this giant toxic solo stan war right here and now.