Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 43. Special Mission! Shine Brightly (4)

“Well, that is, um….”

Seok’s hands trembled as Hajin, with a deep frown, approached him with determined steps.

In reality, Hajin had just removed his lenses after washing up, and he was squinting to get a better look at Seok’s expression. But Seok, unaware of this, only grew more and more anxious.

“If it’s not important, I’m going inside, hyung.”

“Th-that….”

– The thing about ‘second chances’ is that they don’t come as easily as you think.

– So, if you ever get the chance to speak your mind, it’s best to take it, or so my grandmother used to say.

But Seok decided to muster up his courage.

“I’m, I’m sorry!”

“…….”

“I heard about what the guys did to you. I never thought of you that way. I just… I really want to practice well with you and create an awesome stage!”

Seok’s courageous voice echoed through the hallway. Haru, who had been watching the situation, decided this wasn’t his place and quietly slipped away.

Now, only Hajin and Seok remained in the corridor.

As Seok, filled with shame and guilt as a hyung, continued to stare at the floor, Hajin let out a sigh and turned his head.

“It’s fine. Why are you apologizing, hyung? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“…I’ll try to convince the others. They’re just scared. All they know how to do is complain and blame others… I was like that too.”

“…….”

“But after practicing with you, I really started to think about things. I felt so ashamed. Once I realized that I could do more, I started getting a bit greedy. I really want to do well in this survival round.”

Though his words were clumsy, Seok tried his best to convey his sincerity. He felt relieved to have Hajin on his team and as the leader, but he couldn’t stand by and let their first mission fall apart like this!

As Seok looked at Hajin with desperate eyes, Hajin, who had been scratching his head in frustration, finally nodded and spoke.

“…I get it, so you don’t need to keep talking, hyung. I wasn’t planning to slack off either.”

“So, so we’ll practice together, right?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Great! Then I’ll call the guys and talk to them! Since I’m the hyung, if I talk to them…!”

“No, no. That’s not necessary.”

Seok, smiling brightly, repeatedly exclaimed how relieved he was. Hajin, muttering to himself about what there was to be so relieved about, stopped Seok just as he was about to turn around and gather the others.

“No need for that. Hyung, you have the guys’ numbers, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, I, I do.”

“Just contact them one by one, as I say. Not all at once, but individually.”

“Huh?”

Seok blinked in confusion. One by one, not all at once? Even though Seok had no idea what Hajin was up to, Hajin, with a nonchalant expression, just pressed the towel against his damp hair and mumbled to himself.

“Well, at least there’s one less guy to threaten.”

“Huh? Th-threaten?”

“Pardon? Oh, I mean, persuade.”

Just now, he definitely said “threaten”…. No, I said “persuade.” So, who should we call first? Seok’s pupils wavered uncontrollably at Hajin’s gentle smile as he smoothly changed the subject.

* * *

Here we have Park Jaeyoung, an 18-year-old trainee who had the honor of starting the new Miro Maze survival round with the embarrassing rank of 18th place (last).

He thought to himself.

‘Is this really okay?’

He had joined the “Kang Hajin Boycott” group without much thought, mainly because the other hyungs were acting all tough and gangster-like. But honestly, he never really understood what Hajin had done wrong in the first place.

‘Even if he did something wrong, shouldn’t we at least complete the mission first?’

Besides, he originally ranked 19th, meaning he almost didn’t get a chance to participate in this survival round. If it weren’t for Yoon Taehee, who voluntarily dropped out after the three-day break, Jaeyoung wouldn’t even be here.

‘What are these hyungs thinking?’

In the group chat created without Hajin, the discussion about what time they would meet to practice tomorrow had been going on for a while. However, the opinions didn’t seem to converge, and some members had even stopped participating in the chat altogether.

Jaeyoung seriously pondered. Is this really okay?

He recalled the last words Yoon Taehee, who was his age and whom he’d been friendly with, had left him.

– I really thought I did well in this month’s evaluation. But I ended up in 18th place. Honestly, it was a bit disheartening.

– Watching the other hyungs made me realize that those are the people who debut… So I decided to quit.

– You should try your best until the end. I’ll cheer for you when the show airs. Oh, and this is just a personal thing, but….

Jaeyoung was still trying to recall what else Taehee had said when a message arrived.

“Something to give me?”

What could it be? Jaeyoung, without a second thought, threw on a fleece jacket and headed to the lounge. If he had taken a moment to think, he might have questioned why Gong Seok, who wasn’t even the leader, was handing something out. But as an 18-year-old boy making his first appearance on TV, Jaeyoung cheerfully walked toward the lit-up sofa.

“Seok-hyung, I’m here… huh?”

“Hey, Jaeyoung.”

And there, leaning back against the sofa with his head tilted, was Hajin.

“Wh-why are you here, hyung…?”

“Oh, I asked Seok-hyung for a favor because I had something to say. Come on, have a seat.”

At first, Jaeyoung was wary, but this was a lounge with just the two of them, with none of the others around to pressure him. As Hajin gently pointed to the seat next to him and spoke kindly, Jaeyoung found himself sitting on the sofa as if in a trance. And just as he was about to relax into the plush sofa, Hajin spoke.

“Jaeyoung, hyung’s going to practice the title track in Room A tomorrow at 10 a.m.”

“…Wh-why are you telling me this? We all agreed to practice separately.”

“Yeah, that’s right. But hyung’s still human, and it would be sad to practice alone. So, I invited a few people.”

Hajin opened a chat room on his phone and showed it to Jaeyoung. Still wondering why Hajin was telling him this, Jaeyoung was startled by the messages.

Just to let you know, our practice time

is set for 10 a.m. tomorrow.

I’m informing you in advance!>

“The production team asked the leaders to finalize their first practice schedules before the mid-term evaluation earlier.”

“This, this is….”

“But since you guys decided not to practice with me, it looks like I’ll be filming by myself tomorrow. Ah, if it airs that I skipped practice, I’ll get a lot of hate as a bad trainee.”

“N-no, hyung. This… who decided that tomorrow… the filming…?”

“Are you prepared to be hated nationwide, Jaeyoung?”

Jaeyoung, who was suddenly about to be branded as an irresponsible slacker trainee, stammered in shock.

“Ah, really. But you guys said you wouldn’t practice with me.”

Hajin, with an expression full of genuine regret, took back his phone. These days, hate comments are terrifying.

As Hajin put on this shameless expression, Jaeyoung suddenly remembered Taehee’s last words.

– Oh, and this is just personal advice….

– If you end up on the same team as Kang Hajin, don’t mess with him if you can help it. That hyung is really scary.

Jaeyoung unknowingly held his breath. Something was seriously wrong!

* * *

Watching Jaeyoung, who was clearly unsettled, Hajin thought to himself.

‘It’s about time to dangle the bait.’

Seeing Jaeyoung’s pupils tremble at a rate of 40 times per second, Hajin quietly put his phone in his hoodie pocket.

Then, for Jaeyoung, who was still torn between a future of being hated and a present where he was about to be branded a traitor, Hajin opened a sweet escape route.

“By the way, including Seok-hyung, the other four are coming to practice tomorrow.”

“……!”

He had just created an accomplice.

‘Even if it’s scary to betray alone, courage comes when you have a group.’

That’s just how human psychology works. I didn’t really do anything terrible to these guys. It was probably

just a few of Sungwoo’s close friends stirring things up, and the others got swept along because they couldn’t oppose it. Is there any loyalty in that?

“By the way, I plan to mention in my interview that the guys who don’t show up tomorrow were very, very uncooperative with practice. You know that in these survival shows, they usually ask the leaders a lot of questions to build up the characters, right?”

“…….”

“I heard you guys are planning to practice around 2 p.m. tomorrow? The mid-term evaluation is at 7 p.m., so you’ll need to start getting ready by 5 p.m., and then there’s the filming. You won’t even have time to freshen up… so, you’ll probably practice for about an hour?”

So, if I just sit them down one by one and remind them that the cliff edge is where they are,

“Wow, so you guys are going to practice for an hour and then get evaluated by Senior Seo Taeil. You guys are really brave—”

“H-hyung!”

“Yeah, Jaeyoung?”

“I-I’ll come to practice tomorrow. I’ll be there by 9:30 to warm up.”

‘It’s human nature to find your own way to survive.’

Hajin smiled as he looked at Jaeyoung, who was staring at him in terror.

“Really? You will?”

“Yes, yes. Honestly, I didn’t want to do this in the first place. I’m 18th place. I really need to do well.”

Jaeyoung nodded, now emphasizing his desperation and determination.

“Alright, then. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

“Get some sleep. You must be tired today. If you sleep late, your face will swell.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Hajin gently patted his shoulder and gestured for him to leave, the kid, now fully disciplined, quickly left the lounge.

[System Alert: The system is disgusted by the slyness of humans!]

[System Alert: Everyone’s too cruel!]

Watching as the system, clearly upset by the swift change in attitude of these guys, grumbled, Hajin savored the hot chocolate he had prepared in advance and replied.

“Let it go, they’re just kids.”

After sending a message to Gong Seok to summon the next one, Hajin closed his tired eyes for a moment. Honestly, at first, he had thought, “Let them all go to hell,” and planned to film alone.

-…I’ll try to convince the others. They’re just scared. All they know how to do is complain and blame others… I was like that too.

– But after practicing with you, I really started to think about things. I felt so ashamed. Once I realized that I could do more, I started getting a bit greedy. I think the others can change too.

Hajin recalled his earlier conversation with Seok and felt a mix of emotions as old memories resurfaced.

“…This damn nosiness, seriously.”

Hajin quickly downed the rest of his hot chocolate. Footsteps echoed from the distant hallway.

“Alright, then. Who’s next?”

If I can get about five of them to show up, it’ll be a success. This time, I’ll kindly threaten them. With this strange resolve, Hajin clasped his hands together.

* * *

And the next day.

The trainees of Team B found themselves in a very awkward situation.

“…Oh, hyung?”

“Ah, ahem.”

“You too?”

At exactly 9:30 a.m., Jaeyoung, who arrived right on time for the practice session with Hajin, was taken aback.

“What the… so many people showed up?”

Team B’s first practice.

“Everyone’s here except for one?”

Everyone present except for one!