Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 341. KIDS DAY! (3)

“Is it okay to just leave them alone?”

“Pardon?”

We had successfully wrapped up the comeback stage featuring our kids-themed outfits and were on our way to the fansign event when Jung Siwoo, whom I thought was asleep, suddenly spoke up.

I turned my head to the side after putting down my phone, only to find Jung Siwoo, whose stunning beauty remained undiminished despite his humiliating 2:8 parted hairstyle, staring at me with genuine curiosity.

“What do you mean by ‘leave them’?”

“Haru and Eunchan. You don’t seem too concerned about them.”

The sudden mention of real names made me instinctively glance around the car. Today, due to some members having individual schedules after the fansign event, we had split into two cars. In this one, it was just Hyung Wook, who was busy on the phone, me, Jung Siwoo, and Lee Doha.

After confirming that Hyung Wook was occupied with his call and Doha was fast asleep, I finally felt relieved enough to answer.

“It’s normal for them to have moments like that. It’s not like they had a fight or anything.”

“I think Eunchan would actually prefer if they fought.”

“But it would be a bit much to push them into a head-on fight like we did….”

“…….”

“…not that I would suggest something like that, um, I mean….”

I had gotten a little too relaxed, and my mouth ran away from me again.

Realizing I had let something slip, I quickly shut up. Siwoo, who had been looking at me, slightly startled, burst out laughing with a loud “Puhaha!” The sound was so sudden that it surprised Hyung Wook, who was on the phone, and even woke up Lee Doha in the back.

With a pleased smile lingering on his lips, Jung Siwoo muttered as if to himself.

“Still, we’re ‘we’ now, huh?”

“…Eh↗?”

“No, nothing. So you’re just going to leave them like that? Let it resolve itself?”

At his repeated question, I fell silent for a moment.

I hadn’t planned to leave the Chosen Regressor, Dan Haru, unattended for three months, but I also didn’t have any immediate action in mind, so it was difficult to answer.

‘Besides, even if I wanted to do something… he needs to be ready to accept it.’

To someone who stubbornly believed that this life was not their own, advice or counsel was a luxury. But that didn’t mean I could—or should—force him to live as the main character of his own life. That was another issue altogether.

Instead of answering Jung Siwoo’s question directly, I posed one of my own.

“Hyung. How was I?”

“…Suddenly?”

“When I realized I had a complex about you. Remember how you once asked how long you should keep pretending not to notice?”

“…….”

Now that the subject had come up, I decided to address it head-on. Jung Siwoo looked slightly startled, as if he couldn’t believe I remembered. As if I could ever forget.

But I wasn’t trying to make him uncomfortable, so I casually shrugged my shoulders and continued.

“Honestly, I think their current situation is similar to how things were between us back then.”

“What kind of situation?”

“One side envies and admires the other so much that it clouds their feelings, and they end up avoiding any attempt to improve their relationship.”

“Wow, you’re more direct than I thought.”

“But in these cases, it’s usually harder for the one who’s admired and hated without reason. So I wondered how it was for you. To be honest, I’m more worried about Eunchan getting hurt than Haru.”

After laying out my thoughts, Siwoo turned his head slowly, as if he’d been hit with a sudden realization. He propped his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful. His tousled bow tie and his sculpted profile were the very image of a male lead from a fantasy novel.

As long as Jung Siwoo didn’t get hit with some sort of aging beam out of nowhere, it seemed that the visual average of our group would never drop, which was a relief.

“I felt a bit resentful.”

Just as I was getting ready to make some lame comment about how I’d love to see him do a bejeweled cross-stitch, the “statue” himself spoke. His voice had become more serious, carrying a hint of regret.

“Being someone’s object of admiration can be great, but it’s also frustrating. Especially when it’s because of things you didn’t achieve yourself, but were simply born with.”

“…….”

“If there’s a similarity between me and Eunchan, I think it’s that. But….”

Trailing off, Siwoo turned to look out the window. The rapidly passing gray cityscape felt suffocating.

“To Eunchan, Haru might be a different kind of person. I don’t know what kind of feelings Haru has for Eunchan, but….”

“Eunchan is pretty famous for favoring Haru.”

“It’s not exactly favoritism….”

Siwoo rubbed his jawline slowly with his fingers, as if recalling something from the past. Then, he opened his mouth and gave me a clue about the two’s history that I hadn’t known before.

“When Eunchan was demoted from the special class to the regular class, I heard that the other trainees excluded him from practice out of jealousy.”

“…Yeah, I’ve heard something like that.”

“If I remember correctly, Haru joined shortly after Eunchan was demoted. I think Haru was the first to approach Eunchan, wanting to become friends.”

Siwoo added that he used to notice Eunchan eating alone in the company cafeteria, but eventually felt relieved when he started hanging out with Haru.

“At the time, I wasn’t particularly close to either of them, so I just thought, ‘Oh, okay,’ and moved on. But knowing how lonely Eunchan gets, I imagine Haru was a very special person to him.”

“For someone who wasn’t that close, you sure know a lot.”

“Well, I was the oldest among the trainees, aside from Han Sungwoo. So I had at least that much of a hyung mentality.”

“Wow, it’s been ages since I heard that name. Gave me chills.”

Even though Siwoo naturally dropped the “hyung” title when talking about Han Sungwoo, who was older than him, no one seemed to mind. Hearing the name of the root of all evil—Han Chadmotte—after such a long time gave me literal goosebumps.

In any case, the story Siwoo had told me about Eunchan and Haru’s first meeting left me with a lot to think about. Especially if I considered the possibility that Haru’s urge to befriend Eunchan might not have come from his sparkling side, but his rebellious side instead.

Nodding, I reattached the suspenders I had loosened earlier. We were almost at our destination.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“What, exactly?”

“That you do have an ‘older brother’ mentality after all.”

“Did it seem like I didn’t?”

“You always seemed way too into gaming for that.”

Siwoo let out another cheerful laugh at the casual joke. Since it didn’t seem like he was offended, I laughed along with him. I didn’t forget to wake up Lee Doha, who had fallen asleep again in the back.

“Hey, Hyung Wook. What’s left on our schedule this week besides music shows?”

“Nothing special this week. You’ve got a youth-targeted busking event next Tuesday.”

“Where’s it happening this time?”

“Don’t know. PD Kwon said it’s a secret. Wouldn’t tell me no matter how much I asked.”

The fact that PD Kwon was keeping it a secret made a cold sweat break out down my back. I suddenly recalled the terrifying surprise camera shoot during our first profile photo session. Feeling uneasy, I nervously shook my leg and urged Hyung Wook.

“…We’re not going anywhere weird, right? Eunchan only recently got discharged from the hospital. Tell them to take it easy on us….”

“You, who usually charge full speed ahead at 200 km/h, suddenly get cautious at the weirdest times.”

“Please call it survival instinct.”

You just don’t know what it’s like, Hyung. That PD will do anything for good footage—even throw a camera off the 12th floor of a building.

As someone who had once been tied to a camera and thrown off that very 12th floor, I wasn’t exaggerating. It was pure survival.

[System Alert: How on earth…?]

‘Do you even know what it felt like to be chosen because I’d done rappelling training in the military?’

Just thinking about it made my teeth grind and my bones ache. That PD was the same person who had made me jump five times in a row for a bungee jump segment on an idol reality show, just to get the right camera angle.

[System Alert: That’s not just a site inspection; that’s abuse! The system is appalled!]

[System Alert: (((( ;°Д°))))]

‘I was already on my eighth jump by then, so I couldn’t even fight back.’

[System Alert: !?! (Дﾟ≡ﾟДﾟ) ?!!]

[System Alert: (Realization)]

My former boss certainly led by example, even in pointless things.

That’s why I had worked so hard and stuck around longer, hoping to learn more from him….

‘…Enough. No point in thinking about the past.’

It was all over now anyway, and nothing like that was going to happen again. Whenever I found

myself thinking about those memories that only lingered with me, it left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I ended up guzzling water unnecessarily.

After throwing the empty water bottle into the trash bag in the car, I slowly got out, following the security team’s lead. Already, fans had lined up with huge cameras, ready to capture our arrival for the fansign event.

“Guys, head straight up to the waiting room carefully. Just wave to the fans. The road here is narrow, and if the fans move around too much, accidents could happen.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

With Hyung Wook’s stern instructions, the car door shut. Immediately, flashes, camera shutters, and the voices of fans calling our names erupted from all directions. Having gotten somewhat used to the cheers, I waved happily as Lee Doha, Jung Siwoo, and I safely made our way into the building.

“Have the other members arrived yet?”

“Yes, they arrived about 10 minutes ago and are in the waiting room.”

I asked the security team about the whereabouts of the other members, and a tall security guard wearing an earpiece nodded as he answered. He seemed new, judging by his overly formal tone and the way he tensed up after just a few words.

Though I wanted to tell him not to be so stiff, I knew that beginners tend to make fewer mistakes when they’re nervous, so I decided to keep quiet.

After all, I wasn’t exactly old enough to start telling people to take it easy. If anything, doing so might lead to me being disrespected.

“―Ah, by the way….”

“……?”

It was the security guard who reopened the conversation. As if he had suddenly remembered something, he glanced back at us and the senior guard beside him before falling silent again, apparently deciding not to say whatever it was.

“Ah, never mind. I must have been mistaken. This way, please.”

“Thank you.”

The abrupt end to the conversation left me feeling a bit uneasy, but it seemed silly to press him on what he was going to say. Siwoo, who had also heard the exchange, seemed to agree, and our eyes met in shared understanding.

‘If it’s something serious, we’ll hear about it soon enough.’

If it was important enough for us to know, Hyung Wook would’ve already reported it.

Thinking so, I opened the door to the waiting room―.

“……?”

“……!”

I made eye contact with Dan Haru, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. He was reaching for the doorknob, seemingly about to leave, with a panicked expression.

Before I could ask him what was going on, Haru grabbed my arm, his face pale.

“119!”

“…What?”

“Call 119! Quickly! Someone, please…!”

“Why are you suddenly asking for 119…?”

Looking beyond Haru’s desperate face, I finally took in the scene inside the waiting room.

There was Joo Eunchan, sitting on the floor, tightly embraced by Seo Taehyun. Also startled, Lee Yugeon was looking back at us with a similarly shocked expression.

And then…

“…Is that blood?”

…There were droplets of blood on the floor, and a gift box spilled in a mess.

The chaotic sight of the waiting room made my entire body go cold, in a way that couldn’t compare to before.