Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 48. Daylight (4)

At the unexpected sound of wailing, Taeil’s eyes widened.

“Kang Hajin, trainee? Are you okay?”

“Ha… I’m sorry. Just a moment.”

At that moment, Hajin, who tried his best to hold back his tears but couldn’t suppress the emotions bursting out, played the role of the burdened young leader with tears welling up. Pretending to wipe his tears, he turned his head and observed the reactions around him.

“Ah, hyung….”

“Hajin-ah….”

The ones most taken aback by the sudden tears of their cold-hearted leader were the trainees of Team B who had practiced with him. They were the ones who, at this moment, found Hajin’s tears the most surprising and bewildering, yet also understood better than anyone the mental struggles he’d gone through over the past three days.

“Ah… It seems like you’ve been going through a lot.”

Seo Taeil, as if he understood, made a comment that helped set the mood. Hajin, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, sniffled once.

And then he saw it—the producers in the monitor room, busy talking about him.

PD Kwon had always emphasized the virtues of the first episode to him.

– The first episode needs to gather all the attention. Get the handsome ones, the crying ones, the angry ones, the crazy ones, the skilled ones.

What? Grab the opportunity? Fine, thank you, you bastard.

“I’ll make the first episode a one-man show starring Kang Hajin.”

With things having turned out this way, I’ll take over the entire early part by myself. Since I can’t do anything about being handsome, I’ll focus on getting angry, making a scene, and doing well. By the way, I just made a scene earlier.

– If you don’t keep your head straight, the flow will get messed up! Do the live properly!

…Just know that I didn’t have time to care about the cameras or anything else.

“Ahem, ah, I’m sorry.”

After observing the atmosphere for a bit, I let out a short breath as if I had somewhat gathered my emotions. If I went any further, it would be overkill.

I didn’t need to check to know that all the attention in the studio was now focused on me. Holding the microphone, I spoke as calmly as possible, with a slightly choked voice.

“To be honest, I really felt lost. After all, I was the last to join here… I worried a lot about whether I could do well as a leader.”

As my trembling voice continued, the others around me patted my back.

“Now, I’ll just focus on showing you all our own sun.”

“Yes, I understand. We look forward to seeing today’s performance from Team B, who also left a very strong impression during the mid-term check.”

With the skilled flow of Seo Taeil’s hosting, my turn ended. Taeil threw a few more questions to the two members of Team A before passing the mic at the right time.

“Now, let me introduce the five mentors who will evaluate your performance today.”

Behind Seo Taeil, the lights turned on with a bang. Soon, one by one from the left, Seo Taeil introduced each mentor. As always, it was the usual trainers we saw every day—except for one person.

“The best solo singer in Korea, Ria from the group Themis!”

‘I thought they would just stick with Miro’s people for the first episode.’

It was a bit surprising that Ria came as a special mentor. If anyone was going to come, I thought it would be those Enderway people. Anyway, the higher the rank and the more varied the cast, the better it is for us. It attracts a wider audience—people who initially only planned to watch for Miro’s fans might think, “Oh, that person is coming?” and tune in.

Of course, for me to benefit from that, I’d have to tear up the stage today.

“Miro Maze’s first mission, Daylight! Let’s begin!”

There’s no other way but to put my life on the line.

I clapped my hands energetically until my palms turned red.

* * *

Team B’s performance was set to be after Team A’s.

“We’ll go first.”

Jung Siwoo chose to go first using the Wings rank privilege.

‘This dirty hierarchical society.’

For someone planning to climb to the top of that hierarchy, my mindset was quite antisocial, but who cares. We moved to seats where we could watch the stage.

The members of Team A, who were clearly aiming for a refreshing concept with their white and blue dress code, took their positions according to the choreography. The lights changed, and the intro of a song that anyone could sing in their sleep began.

‘They’re definitely good.’

There was no fault in their synchronized group dance or their strong and precise expressions. The paired choreography was executed flawlessly. In the center, Kim Wonho and Lee Yugeon were paired up, practically destroying the stage.

‘Whose wicked pairing idea was that?’

The moment I saw Kim Wonho and Lee Yugeon actually paired up, smiling brightly at each other as if they were real partners, I couldn’t help but sigh. Do they even realize this is a survival competition? Just when I thought that, Han Sungwoo finally started his first verse in the center.

Hello? It’s me.

Han Sungwoo waved his hand as if greeting the mentors who were watching them. With a mischievous smile and a playful expression, Han Sungwoo looked pretty natural.

‘He wore the snapback backward just to do that?’

Anyway, since it was a battle, the camera would inevitably focus on me whenever Han Sungwoo’s part came up, so I paid attention to not make any strange faces while watching Team A’s performance.

Honestly, Han Sungwoo’s stage presence wasn’t bad. No, if that kid had been in Team B, our stage might have been dominated by him. But―.

The moonlight that fills the sky

The starry night pouring down

When all those journeys come to an end

Finally, we’ll face our highlight

‘It’s just that there are too many talented kids.’

It wasn’t even the verse or the chorus, just the pre-chorus, but Seo Taehyun was killing it with his falsetto. Anyone could see he used to be part of Cherry Boy; his eyes were filled with stars. The moment you made eye contact with him, an epic love story you didn’t even know existed between you two would unfold.

Wearing pure white outfits, the visual members’ freshness reached its peak. When Lee Doha’s deep, low voice and Joo Eunchan’s fast-paced rap played like ping-pong, I couldn’t help but clap.

When the so-called ‘killing parts’ were being smashed like that, Han Sungwoo, who was merely handling the average parts, started to look ordinary.

‘And a mischievous kid? That’s a lame interpretation.’

While everyone else was pulling off heartfelt and poignant expressions as if they were reunited with their lover after a thousand years, he was the only one with a cute, mischievous expression. People would only think, “Did this guy not get the concept?”

Daylight, along that path

A dance break followed, led by the dance line of Team A. That punk Kim Wonho had whined about not having a part, but now he proudly took the center of the dance break’s triangular formation. Considering more than half of the guys up there were from the special class, it was quite a dramatic rise in status.

‘They do have different styles.’

If Kim Wonho’s strength lies in precise and clean moves based on a solid core, Lee Yugeon stands out for his flexibility, using his long arms and legs to control the strength and fluidity of his movements. There’s no right answer to which is better, but…

‘A song like this suits Lee Yugeon better.’

This was why I told Kim Wonho to pick Lee Yugeon and not create an antagonistic relationship with him. This battle, Lee Yugeon will definitely win.

‘But even if he wins, it’s just even, but for Kim Wonho, it’s different.’

Until the monthly evaluation, Kim Wonho had been stuck in the general class, and not even at the top, so he hadn’t received much attention. Just being positioned as Lee Yugeon’s rival was already a huge gain for him. Moreover, if it seemed like he almost caught up to him, even better.

‘Enough. Why am I worrying about others when I’m in such a tight spot myself?’

While I was lost in useless thoughts, the song finally reached its end. Han Sungwoo, back in the center, closed his eyes wistfully before finishing the last line.

Hello? It’s me.

Nice to finally meet you.

Even though Han Sungwoo seemed to realize something was off toward the end, he changed his concept in the last moment, wrapping it up with a slightly more affectionate breath.

“Yes, good job.”

“…Wow, Seo Taehyun was insane.”

“Siwoo hyung’s singing is incredible. That hyung is a real cheat.”

“What are we gonna do, seriously? Ah. Doha hyung’s rap after that was a bit much.”

“Kim Wonho, was he always this good? He’s almost on par with Lee Yugeon.”

“Nah, but Lee Yugeon is still better. To be honest.”

But already, the main character of this stage wasn’t Han Sungwoo.

For now, that was enough.

* * *

“Next, Team B, please get ready.”

“Wow, everyone’s so good. Renes better be nervous.”

Ria, who couldn’t stop admiring Team A’s performance, finally couldn’t hold back and muttered to herself as she boldly wrote down her impressions on the evaluation sheet. Didn’t I

say they’d be good? Seo Taeil, as if wanting to take credit, spoke up, and she couldn’t even jokingly deny it.

“The first team was really strong. The second team must be feeling the pressure.”

“That’s because there are many Wings-ranked kids. Most of them have been in the top ranks during the monthly evaluations. But Team B is good too.”

“Ah, I’m glad I debuted a long time ago. At least I don’t have to compete with these kids.”

Ria, thinking that her comment would definitely make it into the broadcast, joked around and flipped through the evaluation sheets again. Her gaze lingered on Hajin’s evaluation sheet, where she had previously marked a star.

“That was him, right? That kid from earlier.”

“Yes. I’m not sure how he’ll do. He suddenly got a lot more parts… If he can’t handle them properly, it’ll be a huge risk.”

Taeil looked at Hajin with worried eyes as he arranged the positions. Soon, it seemed like everything was ready as the assistant director, who was coordinating the positions, disappeared backstage. A sign lit up on the prompter asking for the lead comment to be read. This time, it was Ria’s turn.

“Yes. Before we watch the performance, let’s ask a few questions, shall we? Kang Hajin, trainee?”

“Yes.”

Hajin, holding the handheld microphone, looked at Ria. He was definitely only twenty years old, but his demeanor was so composed and confident that he looked like he could be thirty. Ria paused for a moment. The question written on the prompter was, “What’s the highlight of today’s performance?” but…

“I heard you sang my song during your audition.”

“…? Pardon? Ah… Yes. That’s right.”

“Could you sing a short part of it for us?”

Ria, with a playful glint in her eye, threw out a big bait that wasn’t even in the script. The writers seemed taken aback, as they hurriedly erased and rewrote on the prompter. Taeil nudged Ria as if to ask what she was doing, but it was too late—Ria’s curiosity about Hajin had already been piqued.

“I mean, meeting like this is a fate of its own, so shouldn’t you sing it in front of the original artist?”

Sing it, sing it! Thanks to Ria, who naturally set the mood, the atmosphere was quickly set. Hajin looked around and chuckled awkwardly.

‘Well, this is a big gain for me.’

They’d probably ask about it in the interview too. In my head, I could already see another teaser playing.

‘Wow, a story just falls into place like that.’

After watching Team A’s performance, my teammates were all demoralized, which I found annoying. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get on the stage without hesitation.

“Then I’ll sing a short part.”

The stage fell silent in an instant. Hajin, feeling a bit awkward about everyone listening to him sing, calmly opened his mouth.

I’ll never be able to forget you

A scar-like trace that I can’t erase

‘Ah, damn, I pitched it too high.’

Maybe because it had been a while since he last sang it, he started too high on the first note without thinking. It wasn’t a big deal since there weren’t any high notes later in the song, but Hajin focused all his attention on making sure his pitch didn’t waver.

Because of that, he ended up getting confused for a moment.

‘Is the next line about happiness or love?’

He had sung this song so many times that his mouth moved automatically, but he couldn’t remember the next lyrics. Was it happiness in the first verse and love in the second?

All those shattered moments

While hesitating, the song reached that part. What was it? Hajin, still unsure, ended up blurting out whatever came to mind.

Haaa― mbok or…

…Can I say it? Can I dare to say it?

With a strange pronunciation that sounded like some combination of “full bowl” and “happiness,” Hajin finished the song and covered his forehead with his hand.

“Damn it, I screwed up.”

“Haha, that part is a bit confusing, right?”

Is there an idiot who forgets the original lyrics in front of the original artist? Yes, that idiot is me. Haha.