Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 42
Chapter 42. Special Mission! Shine Brightly (3)
Beep, beeep—
“Why is this choreography so hard?!”
Dinner break. The practice room was empty.
Hajin, who had been replaying the title track choreography for the hundredth time, shut off the music and collapsed flat onto the floor.
“I should’ve created a ‘Dance Copy Machine’ skill. Idiot Kang Hajin.”
After a month as a trainee, he had realized something.
He could learn choreography fine.
But copying moves straight from a video?
Zero talent.
He lay there, pressing a frozen water bottle against his arms and neck. His phone vibrated.
Too tired to sit up, he stretched out an arm and unlocked it.
<MIRO_Junior_LeeOO> lol but that hyung’s seriously practicing alone
<MIRO_Junior_LeeOO> if only it wasn’t for Seongwoo hyung
<MIRO_Junior_KimOO> idiot wrong chat
<MIRO_Junior_LeeOO> ah crap sry
(Deleted)
(Deleted)
Too late.
Screenshot.
“Hajin, sorry for calling you dumb. There are actual idiots out there.”
He let out a breath, then glanced at himself in the mirror across the room.
“Sorry for calling you an idiot too,” he muttered at his reflection, giving it a small pat.
Then his gaze dropped back to the screenshot.
“If only it wasn’t for Seongwoo hyung.”
“…Han Seongwoo again.”
Earlier, when he’d questioned Joo Eunchan about Seongwoo, he had been confirming two things.
First: Is Han Seongwoo a bomb?
Territorial behavior alone didn’t make someone a disaster. Years of endless competition twisted people. That much was understandable.
Not excusable—but understandable.
Second: Is Han Seongwoo part of the ‘successful debut lineup’?
Judging by his behavior… unlikely.
Still, there was always a possibility.
He remembered Eunchan’s hesitant confession.
After I got demoted to general class and rumors spread that I was a parachute hire, Seongwoo hyung was the only one besides Haru who talked to me.
But after talking to him, I always feel like I’m the one who did something wrong. It’s suffocating.
If easygoing Eunchan felt suffocated, something was definitely off.
“Eh? Kang hyung, what are you doing here?”
Kim Wonho strolled in.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Already had two bowls.”
“Practicing? Why alone?”
“I’m being bullied.”
Wonho snorted. “Sure. Like you could ever be bullied. You’d make friends on a deserted island.”
“…Is that a compliment?”
“I’m serious. They’re isolating me.”
“Right. I’ll tell the cameras you skipped dinner to practice.”
“No, seriously!”
Hajin shoved his phone into Wonho’s face.
“I’m really being bullied!”
And at that moment—
[System Alert: Skill <What Even Is Being Me?> penalty condition met!]
[System Alert: Mental care effect reduced by 10%!]
Oh no.
“—Hic.”
“...What?”
“I am being bullied! Waaah—!”
Tears exploded out of nowhere.
All the frustration he had been suppressing flooded back in a violent rush. He grabbed Wonho by the collar and shook him.
“They told me—not to show off—hic—damn it—!”
His mouth ran on autopilot.
Shut up, Kang Hajin.
Ten minutes later.
The crying had stopped.
Wonho had sprinted downstairs for banana milk like someone responding to a medical emergency. Hajin now sat with ice pressed to his swollen eyes.
“…Are they insane?”
Wonho glared at the screenshot.
“Expose them in interviews.”
“It wasn’t on camera.”
“So we just leave it?”
“I’m thinking.”
He already had an idea forming.
“What about you? Team A survivable?”
“Barely.”
“No one giving you trouble?”
He probed casually, fishing for Seongwoo’s behavior.
“Not really. Everyone’s just tense.”
Wonho flopped down beside him.
“More importantly, how am I supposed to beat Lee Yugeon? He memorizes choreography insanely fast.”
Of course he does.
Copy & Paste.
Hajin patted Wonho’s head.
“Get along with him.”
“…Love-your-enemy strategy?”
“Don’t frame him as a rival. Filter what you say in interviews.”
“Why?”
“As long as you avoid the dislike route, you lose nothing.”
Wonho studied him.
“…If you say so.”
Hajin felt an odd flicker of gratitude.
“…But I still don’t believe you’re bullied. That’s like saying Yoon Taehee has manners.”
“Want to die?”
Wonho stood.
“If it gets bad, tell me. I’ll leak it to managers or production.”
Hajin yanked him back down by the hoodie.
“You wasted twenty minutes of my practice.”
“How is that my fault?!”
“Compensate.”
“I bought you banana milk!”
“Then help your pitiful bullied hyung.”
He remembered Wonho’s stat.
A to Z — Fast absorption.
“You memorized the choreo, right?”
Wonho nodded.
“Then teach me.”
“…You’re unbelievable.”
“Enlighten me, master.”
“…You’re insane.”
Elsewhere.
Gongseok couldn’t find Hajin.
He had heard what happened.
He wouldn’t cry alone… right?
Seeing Dan Haru in the hallway—
“Have you seen Hajin?”
“No. Isn’t he with you?”
Guilt tightened in his chest.
He had ranked higher this month because Hajin had trusted him as main vocal.
He had been happy to be on the same team again.
I have to fix this.
“Oh, there he is.”
Hajin walked down the hallway, towel around his neck, hair still damp from washing up.
Gongseok froze.
What if he’s mad? What do I say first?
Haru suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Hyung. Chances don’t always come twice. Grandma says, say what you need to say when you can.”
Then—
“Hajin hyung! Seok hyung has something to say!”
Hajin stopped and turned.
“Why aren’t you showering, Haru?”
“Not important. Seok hyung has something to say.”
Gongseok stiffened.
Hajin tilted his head slightly.
“You had something to say to me, hyung?”
His tone was calm.
His eyes were not.
Scary.
Very scary.