Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 59
Chapter 59. Shouting to You (1)
I was too obsessed with “not doing the original.”
With his head pounding, Hajin pressed his palm hard against his throbbing forehead. He’d been so focused on taking the song’s “ingredients” and cooking up something new that the original meaning—and the traits that made it powerful—had blurred out of focus.
So what now? What do we change—and how, with only a few hours left?
He could feel his teammates’ eyes on him: anxious, searching, fixed on him like he was the only answer. The we’re screwed meter climbed by the second.
This arrangement and concept had been his from start to finish. He’d pushed it through and led the whole thing. If the stage failed, the blame would land on him. Even if no one said it out loud, he could already imagine the resentment.
I can already see public opinion roasting me alive.
“Oh no, Hajin…”
“Kang Hajin was shaky from the first mission, I knew it.”
“His stubbornness is the problem; even in Team B he did that solo nonsense.”
“What did the other kids do to deserve this lol. Hajin’s taking a ‘karma beam’ with them—why can’t they say it was his idea?”
“They agreed and went with it, so what?”
“Hajin pushed the jazz concept, that’s true. How are you supposed to oppose him?”
“pushed* not stuck”
“Do the other four not have free will? If they hated it, they would’ve said so.”
And Seo Taehyun was here.
Seo Taehyun, whose core fanbase wanted his safe, happy debut so badly that #MyCherry_SeoTaehyun_Let’sDebut could trend on command.
If I ruin that guy’s stage, his fandom will grab me by the collar first.
Taehyun was known for performing well. If the result went bad, everyone would pin it on Hajin. That was obvious.
But the truth was, Hajin didn’t have some miraculous trick in his pocket.
This was karma for getting careless because everything had gone too smoothly—assuming the mid-check would “somehow work out” without preparing a real backup.
I dropped my guard because I was too busy watching Han Seongwoo.
But for Hajin’s plan to work, this stage had to succeed. And he couldn’t let his mistake drag the other guys down with him.
He lifted his head toward the teammates watching him with a storm of mixed emotions.
Before anything else, there was something he needed to say.
“…First, I’m sorry.”
“Huh? N-no, why would you—”
“You trusted me and let me take charge, and this is what we brought. You’re exhausted, and now we have to redo everything. I’m sorry. This one’s on me.”
“…!”
At Hajin’s apology, Dan Haru—who’d been sitting quietly beside him, reading the room—looked genuinely startled.
Because the Hajin Haru knew would’ve started with countermeasures, not an apology.
I didn’t think he’d apologize.
And somehow, that made Haru think harder.
I haven’t said a single thing this whole time.
From the meeting until now, Haru hadn’t offered an opinion. He hadn’t fought over the concept or suggested anything about the arrangement. He’d just followed Hajin’s decisions.
Then… doesn’t that mean I share the responsibility too?
Once that thought landed, it felt unfair that only Hajin was apologizing.
“…I’m sorry too.”
“Huh? W-wait, Haru, why are you—”
“When Hajin hyung was throwing ideas out and working hard, I didn’t say anything. I’m on the team too. I should’ve contributed more.”
“What are you apologizing for, Dan Haru?”
“Then what are you apologizing for, hyung?”
Hajin blinked, suddenly awkward.
He’d been ready to take the blame and swallow any resentment. Getting an apology back instead left him speechless.
Isn’t the usual order here… for you guys to trash me first?
He’d seen it plenty of times as the “group-project bus driver.”
Even at his old agency, whenever something he pushed didn’t go well, the others always came at him first.
“I have thoughts too—are you the only one who matters?”
“You acted so cocky. So what are you going to do about this result?”
“I hated it from the start. I just couldn’t say anything because you were so loud.”
He couldn’t respond with Then quit and let me do it alone.
Because he knew how pathetic it felt to be a “me” that nobody looked for. Nobody needed.
“W-what… Haru, if you say that, I look super pathetic.”
He tried to laugh it off, but the room didn’t let him.
“…Hyung, I’m sorry too,” Park Jaeyoung said, voice small. “I blamed you a little earlier. But thinking about it… I wasn’t in a position to.”
“Me too,” Jayden added. “Last mission, I just assumed we’d do whatever hyung said. I’m sorry.”
When both of them lowered their heads, Hajin was genuinely flustered.
What is wrong with these guys? Why are they all like this?
“Hyung.”
Hajin’s shoulders tensed on instinct.
“…Seo Taehyun. Don’t.”
“I’m the most sorry.”
When Taehyun—last of all—took Hajin’s hand with a soft, almost aching voice, Hajin squeezed his eyes shut.
No. This isn’t the mood I was trying to create.
And yet… his chest didn’t feel as heavy anymore.
<System Notice: The fixed regressor’s state stabilizes due to “trust from comrades.”>
<System Notice: The fixed regressor’s trauma (isolation) does not activate.>
<System Notice: “Wandering and drifting” mode decreases by 7%… (loading)>
A notification similar to what he’d once seen at Eunchan’s house appeared again. It felt like a thin fog peeled away from his mind—his thoughts sharpening, his emotions settling.
What…?
Only then did Hajin realize how tense he’d been. Like he’d been bracing himself without noticing. His whole body tingled.
He clenched his fist out of habit, then released it—then let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
…Was I seriously scared just now?
He’d lived his life five times over, and there were still things left that could scare him?
With his head cleared, Hajin clapped his hands once—sharp, loud—pulling everyone back.
“Alright. Then let’s agree we all committed a mortal sin this time.”
“Sounds good~”
“Yep!”
“And repentance will be paid in stage ideas. Doesn’t have to be detailed—just opinions. This time we actually discuss it together.”
Back to his usual self, Hajin. Haru smiled, oddly satisfied.
Yeah. This suited him way better than apologizing with a crushed face.
Feeling energized, Haru shot his hand up first.
“I want to try something like a cappella. Harmonies would sound pretty.”
“Okay. Logged. Next—someone throw something out.”
“Uh, then I…”
That cracked the dam. Ideas started spilling out—half-formed, messy, honest. Even the two Feather-tier trainees—who’d been shrinking more and more through practice after living at the bottom of rankings—looked brighter.
“I think we need choreography no matter what. It is an idol survival show.”
“Right. We consider that too.”
And for once, Hajin didn’t immediately cut them off or argue. He wrote everything down, thinking and rethinking, trying to find the best path in the pile.
Then Taehyun—who’d been quiet the entire time—raised his hand.
“Hyung, I…”
“Yeah, Taehyun. Say it.”
“I want… to do it like the original.”
“Huh?”
The lead in Hajin’s mechanical pencil snapped.
Everyone stared at Taehyun. With a firm, decided expression, he repeated it clearly.
“I want to do a ballad. I want to.”
* * *
“…Hyung, are you dead?”
“Please just kill me instead.”
After showering, Joo Eunchan came into the room and clutched his chest at the sight of Hajin sprawled across the bed.
Hajin was lying sideways with his head hanging off the edge, limbs spread in an X. His face was beet red from all the blood rushing to his head, and with his features upside down, it was horrifying enough to haunt someone’s dreams.
“Why are you even doing that?”
“So blood circulates to my brain.”
“If circulation’s the problem, maybe… exercise…?”
Living with Hajin for days, Eunchan had learned to recognize this pose.
Thinking-too-hard hysteria mode.
He walked over and, without ceremony, dropped a towel over Hajin’s face.
“Mmff—hey! It’s wet!”
At Hajin’s muffled protest, he finally sat up. But even upright, his brow stayed knotted. Anyone could see his face screaming something’s wrong.
While calmly doing skincare, Eunchan sighed.
“What is it. What happened.”
“Will you listen?”
“You were going to stay like that until I asked. What is it? I heard the mid-check didn’t go well.”
Hajin finally admitted what had been tying his brain in knots.
“Seo Taehyun says he wants to do a ballad. Like… keep the original vibe of ‘Shouting to You.’”
“Ah…”
“But you know too, right? He’s not a ballad type.”
Eunchan couldn’t deny it. He nodded.
Taehyun wasn’t bad at singing. But he wasn’t someone who could win purely with vocals like Jung Siwoo—or Hajin.
Taehyun’s strengths were stage presence, clean dance lines, and stable live even while moving.
“Even if I’m trash, there’s a limit to gambling,” Hajin muttered.
“So what did you say?” Eunchan asked.
“Told him no. Confidence is one thing, but who the hell sings ‘Shouting to You’ straight like the original?”
“Then isn’t it fine?”
At Eunchan’s genuinely confused question, Hajin smiled brightly—too brightly.
If it weren’t for that red warning, I wouldn’t care.
<System Notice: Companion ‘Seo Taehyun’ current status… ‘Very depressed.’>
Since the meeting, that red warning had been glued to Hajin’s vision. Close his eyes—red. Open them—red.
‘Very depressed,’ seriously?
Why was the bright, bubbly cherry boy suddenly staking his life on a ballad?
Hajin had always said Taehyun could debut even if he went on stage and screamed heavy metal—but this was different. Unless they all achieved vocal enlightenment overnight, there was no way this worked.
Wait. Could I… achieve enlightenment?
Hajin thought of the skill <What Even Is Being Me?>, which had been way more useful than expected before, and glanced toward the System.
But it wasn’t an easy skill—expensive in cash, brutal in penalties. Hajin didn’t want to pay that price just to grant Taehyun’s wish.
With a sigh, he flopped back onto the bed.
“But isn’t it not that surprising?” Eunchan said.
“Huh?”
“Taehyun hyung always said he wanted to break out of the cherry-boy image.”
Eunchan’s tone was calm, like Taehyun’s decision wasn’t shocking at all.
“When he gave up ‘Paran’ or ‘Moodnight’ and chose ‘Shouting to You,’ I think he had that calculation. He got famous as Cherry Boy, but… Cherry Boy Seo Taehyun never got to debut.”
“……”
“I don’t know everything, but… maybe he wants to show it. That he’s grown since then.”
This time, Hajin fell silent.
Because a scene that had been hovering at the edge of his mind resurfaced.
“Taehyun.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what you told me when you said you were coming to Miro?”
“…Yes.”
“I don’t think you came here just to keep doing what you used to do. Or did you?”
“Ugh. This is so annoying.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“It’s annoying!”
“Where are you going?!”
This damn busybody—