Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 11. The Trainee Who Refuses to Debut (2)

“Wow, you already met and even got introduced?”

Even in his casual tone, Han Sung-woo’s words were sharp enough to make the other trainees focus their gazes on me and Sparkling. As the previously smooth atmosphere suddenly turned strange, Sparkling looked openly flustered and shook his head.

“No, it’s not like that….”

“We met in front of the bathroom. We ran into each other by chance, and he was so good-looking. So, I asked a staff member about him.”

“…Oh, really?”

The atmosphere quickly returned to normal as I cut off Han Sung-woo’s sharp tone with an appropriate response. Sparkling, who had been flustered, laughed awkwardly to match the mood. Everyone was laughing, but I felt like a prickly ball was floating in the air.

“Well, it seems like everyone’s introduced themselves. Shall we take a break? You all must be tired, right?”

Still smiling kindly, Han Sung-woo patted my shoulder and stood up. The practice room quickly became a whirlwind of activity. The only ones left sitting were me and Sparkling, maintaining an awkward distance. As Sparkling quietly tried to slip away from beside me, I grabbed him.

“Where was that bathroom again? We ran into each other earlier, but I can’t seem to remember.”

That was a lie. There wasn’t even anything resembling a bathroom near the place where we had run into each other earlier.

“Oh, maybe it’s because it’s a bit far…. If you go out into the hallway and turn left….”

“I guess it’s because it’s my first time here. The place is so complicated, I could easily get lost.”

As I shrugged my shoulders with a troubled expression, Sparkling’s eyes rolled around.

Wasn’t it supposed to be a right turn? I asked with a naive tone, and Sparkling, who had been just mouthing his words, finally took the bait.

“I-I can show you the way!”

“Wow, you don’t have to do that. Thanks.”

As soon as we left the practice room, I naturally turned left. Sparkling’s eyes widened with confusion, but I didn’t care.

Are you a bomb or a lifeline?

* * *

“Eunchan.”

As he saw Hajin leaving the practice room with Haru through the mirror, Eunchan heard the familiar voice calling him. Instead of responding, he hastily pretended to stretch and averted his gaze.

However, when Eunchan, or rather Joo Eunchan, was called again in a friendly tone, he could no longer ignore it.

Rubbing his stiff neck, Eunchan finally answered the person who had called him.

“…Yes, Sung-woo hyung.”

“I feel bad about what I said earlier. You know I didn’t mean anything bad, right?”

“Oh… Yes.”

Feeling the gazes of some other trainees on them, Sung-woo, who had called out to Eunchan, deliberately patted his shoulder with a bigger gesture. It would be nice if you came early, you have long legs, kid! His lively voice filled the practice room.

“Everyone’s working hard, so it’s not good if you’re the only one disrupting the mood. I believe you understand what I mean.”

“Yes, hyung. …I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, just don’t do it again next time. Keep practicing. Were you warming up? I’ll watch over you.”

Even after the conversation ended, Sung-woo didn’t leave but settled right in front of Eunchan, making him let out a small sigh. His gaze kept drifting toward the practice room door, where Haru and Hajin had exited.

“Eunchan. You need to focus. What did I say would happen if you warm up sloppily? You can’t ignore the basics.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

I’m suffocating.

That was a thought Eunchan kept to himself.

* * *

Dan Haru was slightly tense. For one, he was a bit shy around new people, and the trainee hyung he met today for the first time had an intimidating aura similar to Eunchan’s, which made him even more nervous.

Maybe it was because their first meeting had been awkward? He had followed along out of an uneasy feeling, but it was difficult to tell his full story to someone he had just met, which put him in a very tricky situation.

“You said your name was Haru, right? Where do you live?”

“Uh? Oh, I live in Seoul….”

“Your home is in Seoul?”

“No, I live in the dorm….”

“Wow, really? You’re young, and living away from home must not be easy. That’s impressive. Where’s your hometown?”

“It’s in the countryside, but my parents are overseas.”

“What? So you’re in Korea all by yourself?”

“No, I live with my grandmother….”

“Hmm. I see.”

This is… tricky?

‘How did I end up reporting half of my life story to this hyung?’

I just answered what he asked, but before I realized it, I had practically reported to this hyung—who I met for the first time today and who I had been wary of—that I was the youngest among the trainees, that the trainee life wasn’t too hard, but sometimes I missed my grandmother’s Braised short ribs back home.

He had a scary face, so I assumed he had a personality similar to Eunchan’s, but Hajin treated me like someone he had known for ten years. His skill at keeping the conversation going was impressive, almost like a professional recreation leader.

In the short time it took to walk from the practice room to the bathroom, I had agreed to let Hajin drop the formalities with me, call him hyung, and had even called him Hajin hyung a few times! Compared to the one month it took me to stop calling Eunchan—who was my age—“hey, uh… you,” this was a shocking difference in speed.

‘His social skills are off the charts.’

By this point, Haru’s head was filled with all sorts of thoughts. Should he just be honest? Should he ask this hyung not to tell the other guys what he saw earlier? But what if he asked why? How would he answer? Should he really be saying all this to a hyung he just met today?

And while Haru was silently agonizing, Hajin was thinking.

‘This kid is so transparent.’

Every thought was written all over his face. If he ever debuted and went on variety shows, he’d have a hard time. Even though I had given him the perfect opportunity to open up, he was still hesitating. I couldn’t tell if he was overly cautious or what, but anyway, if he didn’t speak up, I would have to make the first move.

“You’re worried about what happened earlier, right?”

“Uh?”

“Or not? You seem like you don’t want others to know about our encounter earlier.”

In a tone that was gentle and understanding, I spoke as if I already knew everything, and this honest Sparkling was startled again.

His unusually large eyes were filled with a million exclamation and question marks asking, ‘What kind of person is this hyung, anyway?’

I could read everything on his face.

“I don’t know the details, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything when we ran into each other earlier.”

“Ah, th-thank you.”

With a startled look, Sparkling bowed his head and didn’t seem like he was going to say much more. Anyway, I wasn’t planning on digging into everything from day one.

Just laying some groundwork for now would be enough.

“Good thing I didn’t blurt it out earlier without thinking.”

“No, it’s nothing serious…. It’s just a little embarrassing that I cried….”

“What’s wrong with crying? I cried all the time at my previous company.”

“You were a trainee before? At another company?”

“…Yeah, just for a bit.”

As I answered with a shrug and a smile, I could see Sparkling’s wariness slowly wearing down. Just like a bunny with drooping ears gradually perking them up, Sparkling’s posture relaxed. Watching him, I threw in one last line before we returned to the practice room.

“If you ever need to talk about something you find difficult to share, just ask me to go to the vending machine. I’ll buy you a drink or something.”

I said it casually, like it was no big deal.

“I have a younger brother, actually…. When I saw you earlier, you reminded me of him, so I felt a little protective.”

I had just sold out my younger brother, Kang Hawon, who was probably at home playing games, with a single sentence, but it didn’t matter since Hawon wouldn’t know.

“Is that too much? I just thought you might find it hard to talk to the guys inside.”

“…Hyung,”

“Yeah?”

“You really seem like a grown-up.”

Well, of course. I’ve lived twenty-nine-plus years.

With a guilt-free smile, I patted the shoulder of Sparkling, who looked at me as if he were half-dazed. If Hawon had seen me like this, he would have probably given me a cold look and shaken his head, but Hawon wouldn’t see, so it didn’t matter.

‘Bite the bait, little lamb.’

Whether it was a lamb or a fish didn’t matter to me.

* * *

The trainees at Miro Entertainment had five types of classes: singing, dancing, rapping, acting, and physical training.

Each class had levels, and I was placed in the following order: advanced, intermediate, advanced, beginner, and intermediate. The reason my acting class was at a beginner level was probably due

to this damn mental care system.

‘It seems like the care system dulls my emotions while it’s active.’

This is troublesome. I’ll have to settle things with the system later.

[System Alert: Settle… what exactly?]

Anyway, right now, I was in dance class. For someone like me, my level was awkward. My dancing skills weren’t bad for learning the basics, but they weren’t good enough to handle advanced choreography. I was stuck in this “ambiguous” phase, which was starting to get on my nerves.

I had to get rid of that “intermediate” tag.

“Okay, that’s it for today. Good job.”

After repeating a few step routines about 300 times, I felt like even just walking made my ankles twist like I was still dancing.

‘I’m too tired even to get a drink of water.’

Debating between hydrating or resting, I eventually chose to lie down, exhaling as I looked around the practice room. The trainees I saw on the first day were paired up, either stretching or chatting.

Only two people were missing.

‘Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru.’

Those two again.

It seemed like it had been about two weeks since classes started, and in that time, those two had consistently skipped practice or been called away with various excuses.

‘And every time that happens, the one who reacts most sensitively is… him.’

“Guys, even if you’re taking a break, you should tidy up a bit.”

Han Sung-woo, who had been talking to the dance trainer after class, shook his sweat-drenched hair and spoke sharply. Let’s clean this up before we rest, everyone. His voice, thick with suppressed irritation, made the trainees lying around the room quickly get up.

‘It’s not like we need to clean right now.’

Still, with everyone else up, it would look bad if I did nothing. Deciding to tidy up a bit, I started to get up when I noticed Han Sung-woo approaching me. What’s this? Why’s he coming over?

“Hajin, you should rest. It must be hard enough just keeping up with practice.”

“…No, it’s fine. We should all help out.”

“Don’t worry about it. You might accidentally damage some expensive equipment since you’re not familiar with it yet, and that would be more of a hassle.”

Is he trying to mess with me?

If I just said, “Yes, I’ll rest,” the other trainees would probably glare daggers at me, so that wasn’t an option.

Unsure of the source of the subtle hostility, I looked at him, and Han Sung-woo stood by my side with his usual expression. He gave me a quick once-over and then smiled slightly.

“Is it tough to adjust? It must be rough skipping the basics and jumping straight to the advanced stuff.”

“Yeah, my stamina isn’t quite up to par. Probably because of that.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. It takes more than a day or two. Beginners like you often struggle at first.”

By this point, it was hard not to notice that this was a power play. I had suspected something off from the first day, and now it was clear. Just as Han Sung-woo was about to drape an arm over my shoulder while keeping his hand in his pocket, there was a sudden noise.

Thud.

“What’s going on?”

The practice room door, which had been firmly closed, burst open noisily. I didn’t need to look to know it was Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru; their noisy footsteps naturally headed in my direction.

“Hyung!”

Startled by the serious tone, I glanced to the side to see Dan Haru, with bright red ears, glaring at me. Huh? Did Sparkling get mad?

“Me?”

When I asked if he was calling me, he nodded with a determined expression. He had shouted so loudly that not only Han Sung-woo beside me but also the other trainees were now looking this way.

Uh-oh, this could be bad.

“Haru, what’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”

“……”

“……?”

“The vending machine….”

“Huh? What?”

“Let’s go to the vending machine!”

“…Huh?”

Eat that, and you’ll die, idiot.

I couldn’t even bring myself to say those words aloud, so they just echoed in my mouth.