Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut! Chapter 97

Chapter 97 – Bomb? (8)

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look way too pale right now.”

Startled, Seo Taehyun grabbed Kang Hajin by the shoulders and looked him over. Dan Haru, who had been just about to fall fully asleep, woke at the sound too and slowly sat up, staring at the two of them with worried eyes.

“…I just haven’t been sleeping. I think the stress got to me. I’m really fine.”

“How are we supposed to not worry? You were perfectly fine a second ago, and then you almost collapsed.”

“I didn’t collapse. I’m really okay. I just got dizzy for a second. I’m fine.”

That was what he said, but Hajin was still enduring a deep, stabbing pain that felt like something was digging into the center of his body.

At least the room was dim, lit only by a mood lamp. If Taehyun or Haru had seen him properly under bright light, they would have dragged the managers awake and taken him straight to the hospital.

But the bigger problem right now wasn’t the pain.

It was the system window floating in front of him.

“What if you at least take some medicine? Where does it hurt?”

“…I’ll sleep first, and if it still hurts when I wake up, I’ll go to the hospital. Okay?”

“……”

“Ah, I’m not dying. Go to sleep already. It’s late.”

“What about you?”

“The second you two go in, I’m lying down right here and sleeping.”

“……”

“Really. Promise.”

Hajin used every bit of the acting skill he had sharpened through painful experience fooling all kinds of people and reassured Taehyun and Haru until they finally backed off. They still looked deeply worried, but in the end, the only thing they could do was leave him alone to rest.

The moment Taehyun took Haru and headed back to their room, Hajin stretched out on the sofa and finally examined the system window properly.

[S?n_le Q$esSSSㅅㄴt 3.]

Comp@lete the thㅣㅣird mis$ion su@cc3ssfully wiiiith Leee Yuㅌ-geon

• Sysㅣtem und9r… attaaaack…

Plㅗㅗease be carefuᅟᅟl

** Recovㅂery schedu@led s?o?n

If failed:

-Regression possibi/(?lity 10000000%%%%%% ㅈ@!ga

The system window, which he hadn’t seen distorted like this in a long time, looked like a glitched screen graphic—broken and scrambled from top to bottom. Still, even through the mangled letters, he could make out the important parts.

Complete the third mission successfully with Lee Yugeon.
The system is under attack by the Returning One.
Be careful.
Recovery is scheduled soon.

And then—

If he failed, the chance of regression would become 100%.

Why? Why now, of all times?

If he failed to complete the third mission with Lee Yugeon, regression would happen. No maybe. No probability game. Guaranteed.

The moment Hajin confirmed that, his heartbeat started pounding for real.

Think. Slowly.

That bastard did say the Chosen Regressor comes back because he wants to be happy.

Unable to endure the misery of his own life, he only enjoys the happiness he can handle—then bails out through regression. That was the pattern Hajin knew.

When I first entered Miro, the chance of regression was 85%. While I was dealing with Director Son and Han Seongwoo, there were no separate warnings about the regression rate.

Which meant the results Hajin had produced so far had been acceptable. So if the third mission had suddenly become the line between success and guaranteed regression, then—

If I fail the third mission, he becomes unhappy. Unhappy enough to throw everything away and go back. Why? What does this mission have to do with him?

A wave of heat shot through Hajin, and he forced himself to breathe as deeply as he could.

That bastard might be interfering again. It looks like that’s why Thirteen still can’t come back.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he had to meet Yugeon and talk to him.

Whether Lee Yugeon really was the Chosen Regressor or not, Hajin had to settle every suspicion he had about him—now, for the sake of this quest.

Forcing down the anxiety rising in his chest, Hajin tried to sleep.

It didn’t come easily.

The next morning, Hajin couldn’t meet Yugeon.

“He didn’t come back?”

“No, and he’s not answering his phone either…”

After going out yesterday, Lee Yugeon had never returned to the dorm. Judging by the timing, the last thing he had done was send that message with the song options and reference materials.

“Hyung Sang-hyeok. Don’t you have any emergency contact for Lee Yugeon? His family’s number or something?”

“Th-that’s… I do have one, but I don’t know if it’s old or entered wrong, because it just says the number doesn’t exist…”

The rookie development staff member in charge of Yugeon avoided eye contact so thoroughly that it was obvious he knew nothing useful. He was already infamous among the trainees for being sloppy with schedules, notices, and basically every kind of admin work.

I need to tell Ji Suho to clean house in rookie development.

What kind of joke was this? The staff member in charge of a trainee didn’t even know that trainee’s valid emergency contact?

Looking at the guy—who honestly seemed even more flustered than he was—Hajin had to work hard not to raise his voice.

His head was already a total mess with the fear that everything might spiral straight into regression before he could do anything. Maybe because the system had glitched, even the Mental Care System felt half-broken—he couldn’t think straight at all. Ever since waking up, memories and emotions from every past life felt like they were crashing into him at once.

“Hyung. Then we’ll go look for Yugeon, so could you contact the production team first?”

“Huh? M-me? Contact them?”

“…We’re supposed to film our practice later, but Yugeon isn’t here. Are we filming without him? You can’t air it like he just vanished without permission. Obviously the shoot needs to be postponed or adjusted. You’re the one in charge of Yugeon.”

“Ah, right. Right, of course.”

He knew the guy was still relatively new and clumsy.

But Hajin was in no state to be patient about it.

He had been gritting his teeth and holding himself together, and in the end his tone came out far harsher than he meant it to. The employee, startled, pulled out his phone—then stopped and looked at Hajin with offended eyes.

“But Hajin, what you just said was kind of unpleasant for me. I’m still an adult, and I’m a staff member here. Do you really think it’s appropriate to talk to me like that?”

Not only incompetent, but self-important too.

Normally, Hajin would have just apologized lightly and moved on.

But not now.

This was not the time.

“Then hurry up and do your job instead of standing there.”

“What did you just say? That’s really disrespectful.”

“Hyung, yesterday you left before our filming was even over, didn’t you? So when Lee Yugeon left the company after filming and never came back to the dorm, you didn’t know that either. And I still didn’t say anything.”

“……”

“I’ve got a lot I want to say right now. I’m holding it in.”

The version of Hajin this employee knew was the one who always smiled kindly and treated staff warmly.

So when that same Hajin stepped toward him with a frighteningly hard face and a low, cold voice, the employee instinctively took a step back.

But fortunately—or unfortunately—Hajin didn’t get the chance to go any further.

Because Jung Siwoo, who had arrived late after hearing the commotion, stepped in front of him.

“Kang Hajin, calm down. What’s gotten into you?”

“……”

“Eunchan, take him back to the room. Hajin feels hot. He probably has a fever—give him some medicine and make him lie down. Quickly.”

“Y-yes!”

“Wonho and Doha, ask around and see if anyone’s seen Yugeon.”

“Yes. Doha hyung, let’s go.”

“And the rest of you outside—back to your practice rooms. Stop crowding here trying to figure out someone else’s team situation.”

Siwoo settled the entire situation in seconds.

Which, under normal circumstances, should have been the employee’s job.

But the guy was still just standing there, saying nothing.

Watching.

Siwoo followed Joo Eunchan and Hajin with his eyes until they disappeared down the hall, then turned toward the employee. His eyes went cold for a moment before he smoothed them over and rested a hand on the man’s shoulder in a friendly voice.

“Ha-jin wasn’t feeling great since yesterday, and now Yugeon’s gone missing, so I think he just got a little sensitive. You understand, right?”

It wasn’t really the tone of someone asking for understanding.

It was the tone of someone saying you will understand.

But the employee, already rattled, didn’t catch the difference. Reassured by Siwoo’s calm face and polite voice, he nodded quickly.

“Haa, well… I’m sorry if I missed something because I’ve been busy too. But Yugeon’s been unpredictable more than once or twice already, so I’m honestly flustered too.”

Excuses to the very end.

And naturally, blame shifted onto the trainee.

Siwoo took his hand off the man’s shoulder and stepped back. He was fast when it came to deciding who was useful and who wasn’t.

“Right. I understand you’re busy. Ah, I’ll contact the production team myself. I’m sure you have plenty to do, so… please go take care of that.”

“If you do that, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll keep checking into Yugeon’s situation too.”

“Yes. Please do.”

The second he was offered an exit, he took it and left.

At the end of the day, he was just staff, and only two or three years older than the trainees. He was probably terrified that the higher-ups would hear about this and rip into him.

Looking faintly disgusted, Siwoo pulled out his phone and called someone.

“Team Leader, hello. It’s Siwoo. Yes, something’s come up with our team, so I’m calling urgently.”

The person on the other end was Ji Suho, the team leader currently overseeing both Miro Maze and preparations for Miro’s next boy group.

No reason to protect someone who can’t even take responsibility for his own mistakes.

Siwoo ran a hand through his hair, face gone cold.

“Hyung, I told you to take this.”

“I don’t have a fever.”

“Take it. You weren’t feeling well last night too.”

“And when exactly did you hear that?”

Eunchan practically dragged Hajin back to their room and sat him down on the bed. Then he held out cold medicine and a glass of water with a look that clearly said: You are not moving until this is in your body.

“Siwoo hyung said earlier too that you felt hot. That you were burning up.”

“…That wasn’t that kind of hot. He was just telling me to calm down because I was angry. I’m really fine.”

By the time they got back to the room, Hajin had calmed down a lot. But Eunchan didn’t buy it for a second. After a long back-and-forth, Hajin was the one who gave in first.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll take it. Then I’m taking one quick lap outside.”

“By yourself?”

“I need to cool off a little. If I really feel sick, I swear I’ll come right back and lie down.”

“…Really?”

Only after Hajin repeated the same reassurance several times under Eunchan’s suspicious stare was he finally allowed out.

He could feel it himself.

His mental state was riding dangerously high.

100% chance of regression.

Those words refused to leave his head.

And on top of that—

Yugeon had disappeared.

If someone spots him. If rumors start. If this blows up online. If he gets dragged before the mission even starts—

He had to complete the third mission successfully with Yugeon. If word got out that Yugeon had gone missing without notice, recovering public opinion would be almost impossible.

I have to find him before anything spreads. That bastard’s face stands out too much—if anyone spots him somewhere…

That was when someone suddenly grabbed Hajin’s shoulder.

“Hyung!”

“……! Ah. Dan Haru.”

Haru, in a yellow hoodie with his permed curls tucked inside, looked up at him.

“Hyung, are you okay? You were sick yesterday.”

“Mm? Ah, yeah. I’m okay. Where are you going?”

“Um… to buy Taehyun hyung ice cream. Hyung, do you want to come with me?”

Apparently he still hadn’t heard anything about Yugeon. All he knew was that Hajin had looked unwell last night, and he still looked worried about it.

Then, bright as ever, he added:

“They said that ice cream is some kind of limited edition? I have to go all the way past the big intersection to find it. It’s kind of far to go alone…”

“……”

“If you don’t want to, I can go by myself…”

“…No. It’s okay. Let’s go.”

As Haru shrank back awkwardly, Hajin nodded almost on impulse.

Maybe a walk would help. Maybe moving around would settle his thoughts.

At this rate, the moment I see Lee Yugeon, I’m going to grab him by the collar.

First, get your head back.

Grinding his teeth, Hajin forced his breathing steady.