Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 21
Chapter 21. The Most Effective Way to Defuse a Bomb (6)
“You can debut.”
“……”
“If you do well.”
“…Are you messing with me right now?”
When I patted his shoulder as I said it, Seo Taehyun’s eyes immediately sharpened.
He looks gentle at first glance, but his gaze has real bite. Maybe it’s his naturally sharp eye shape. When he glares at you, it actually stings.
Yeah. He’d look incredible in a tight one-shot close-up.
“Didn’t you hear my nickname at the company? I’m Miro’s Zhuge Liang.”
“Must be nice, having Zhuge Liang as a nickname.”
“Zhuge Liang Hajin hyung knows more than you.”
I flashed a saintly smile as I joked, and Taehyun’s expression eased a little.
Still not enough.
The system window barely reacted.
Which means… time to drop something heavier.
“Taehyun. Want to see something?”
“…What.”
I pulled out a thick bundle of documents and a USB from deep inside my bag—the same ones I’d carefully protected all the way down to Gangwon. The edges were worn and slightly frayed.
Taehyun recognized them instantly.
“…How did you get this, hyung?”
“You were planning to use this to take down the director, weren’t you? Years ago.”
“Did you get it from Cha Minseok? That bastard—don’t tell me he still had it?”
<System Alert: ‘Seo Taehyun’ reacts to you. (Reaction rate -23%)>
Wow. What a drop.
“Knowing too much can hurt you. Trade secret.”
His fist tightened around the envelope. His shoulders trembled. His breathing turned uneven. His pupils shook.
If he’s already like this, that’s a problem.
I haven’t even started yet.
“Minseok being trash can wait. Taehyun.”
“……”
“I’m going to say something harsh.”
“……”
“I hate that this is reality too. But it is reality. So listen without twisting it.”
I covered his clenched fist—the one gripping the old documents like he might break—and said firmly:
“You can’t blow this up. Not back then. Not now.”
Then I pulled out more documents and laid them in front of him.
“Do you really think you were the only one who ever tried to take a shot at the director?”
From the moment I heard the story from Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru, I started digging. Trainees who quit. Trainees who were pushed out. The ones affected by the director in the last two or three years.
There were more than I expected.
“Hyung… it won’t work. I tried. I looked into legal options. Nothing worked.”
“Don’t drag me into this again. Just thinking about it makes my teeth grind.”
None of it ever reached the director.
Inside Miro, he’s “washed up.”
Outside? He’s still a mid-level power player in the industry.
“PDs, reporters, media outlets… they’ve eaten and drunk with him a hundred times more than they ever will with you. And you haven’t even debuted.”
“So what? You came all the way here just to tell me to stop being stupid and shut up?”
Taehyun snapped, frustration and helplessness mixing together.
I watched him quietly.
In my previous life, I didn’t really care whether he debuted or not.
Now it’s different.
“Taehyun.”
“…What.”
“Want to trust me just once?”
Because I’m going to have to make you debut.
“You can debut. For real.”
He stared at me like I was delusional.
Understandable.
But I don’t say things like this without backing.
“If you do well.”
“…You’re really not joking?”
“I couldn’t be more serious.”
“It’s amazing how unconvincing you are.”
“Tsk. Listen properly.”
I handed him the proposal.
“A company survival show is happening.”
Right before coming here, this proposal had already been submitted upstairs. Through Ji Suho, I confirmed that discussions were already underway with a production company and a broadcast slot.
The director probably already heard whispers.
“A lot of survival shows have fixed picks. This one won’t. Ji Suho and senior Seo Taeil are stepping in at the planning stage.”
Bringing Seo Taeil in was Suho’s idea. As an in-house director with influence—and someone recently interested in rookies—he strengthens the structure.
“In a survival show, judges matter. But viewer votes matter more.”
I leaned forward slightly.
“This time, you really can debut. If you do well.”
The advantage of being “Boys’ Empire Cherry Boy” is the initial buzz. After that, it’s survival.
But he’s still Seo Taehyun.
He made finals.
He trended even when he had three seconds of screen time eating dumplings.
He doesn’t disappear quietly.
“Most importantly, the director won’t be able to interfere.”
That’s when I saw it.
Hope.
Just a flicker.
“Do you really think I can debut?”
<System Alert: ‘Seo Taehyun’ reacts to you.>
<Companion recruitment status 1/??>
“Why are you doing this much for me? We’re not even that close.”
This mattered.
One sentence could shift his entire trajectory.
After a moment, I answered honestly.
“I voted for you.”
“…What?”
“You were good. I was jealous watching you.”
I remembered his final stage. I remembered replaying his expressions and gestures in my room.
If I’m here—regressed four times and still fighting
Maybe someone who fought just as hard deserves a chance too.
“Let’s go together, Seo Taehyun.”
“……”
“You like the stage, don’t you?”
<System Alert: Reaction rate 89.7%>
<Recruit? (Y/N)>
Taehyun’s head dropped. The proposal in his hands grew damp from his tears.
I waited.
On the Bus Back to Seoul
“Eat before you go.”
“Our bus is late. We’ll eat in Seoul. Thank you.”
“Taehyun, call your mom.”
“…Okay. Bye, Uncle.”
We boarded hungry and exhausted.
Silence.
“Hyung.”
“Hyung’s sleeping.”
“If you’re pretending, at least close your eyes.”
“I sleep with them open.”
He stared at me like I was insane.
“What.”
“…What would you have done if I said I wasn’t going back?”
“Were you going to?”
“I could’ve said I was done with survival shows.”
He looked serious.
I was tired.
“Cha Minseok debuts in June. You want to call him sunbae? Or do you want to compete as his equal?”
“…That’s what I thought.”
"Hyung, you’re evil.”
“Hyung goes to church.”
He fell silent.
“Give me the evidence.”
“You said I couldn’t use it.”
“You can’t.”
“And you can?”
“I’ll think.”
He hesitated.
“…It’s kind of wet.”
“Tear-soaked evidence. I’ll treasure it. Hand it over.”
He finally gave it to me.
“But what are you actually going to do?”
“Do you know what matters when you hunt something bigger than you?”
“Why do you talk like that?”
“First strike. And numbers.”
He blinked.
“You alone can’t do it. I alone can’t do it. But if we become we… everything changes.”
The bus rolled toward Seoul.
I looked out the window and smiled faintly.
Alright then
So how should we destroy him now?