Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 322. The Moment Daily Life Is Etched (3)

“…So, you really shouldn’t fall into these traps. Just because the first three answers were all option 1, don’t let that shake you.”

Let’s see now…

“…In my case, I always start by marking all the conjunctions I see. Honestly, these days, even Korean text longer than three lines is hard to read, so how are you supposed to read a string of English sentences the size of your palm? That’s why you break it down first. Now, let’s look. What’s the most noticeable conjunction in these paragraphs?”

“……”

“Doesn’t ‘For example’ catch your eye right away? What else do we have? There’s ‘In addition’ and ‘Therefore.’ So, if we list these in Korean, what do we get? ‘For example, furthermore, therefore,’ right? Let’s focus on the feel first, okay?”

“……”

“If you think of the typical essay structure—introduction, body, conclusion—then it makes sense to start by saying ‘For example, there’s this…’ before adding ‘Furthermore…’ or concluding with ‘Therefore….’ Right?”

“……”

“So, what do we do? As soon as we see this, we think, ‘Oh? Should I start reading from C, where the ‘For example’ is?’ That would be great. After all, English is still a language, right? If you approach reading comprehension structurally like this, you’ll save a lot of time during the exam….”

What time is it again?

J, who had been listening absentmindedly to the lecture unfolding at the front of the classroom, suddenly straightened up, realizing that she had been fully engrossed without even noticing.

‘Wait, was I actually concentrating…?’

The chalkboard, which had previously only had “self-study” written on it, was now filled with notes from Hajin’s impromptu lecture. It included everything from commonly tested idioms and conjunctions in the college entrance exam to some tips for the TOEIC (though why, she wasn’t sure), all neatly organized.

“Anyway, vocabulary is the most important thing. You really have to study your words. You think you know everything, you’ve memorized everything, and your translation is perfect, but then you get an answer wrong because of one word you didn’t know? It’s so absurd you can’t even cry.”

…Is that from personal experience?

No, that couldn’t be it, right?

As he spoke with such conviction, the third-year students in Class 9 started to blur the line between whether the person in front of them was a newly debuted idol or a top lecturer from Gangnam’s Daechi-dong.

Even J, who had been drowning in her negative emotions, found herself momentarily forgetting her own sadness due to the sheer cognitive dissonance of the situation.

“And you think your March scores matter? Just wait until June. Your real competition isn’t the friend sitting next to you, it’s the repeaters and those who have taken the exam multiple times…”

“Hyung, hyung…! Hyung, stop. Please stop…!”

Hajin’s rant, fueled by the frustrations of his own grueling exam experiences, was only halted when Haru urgently snatched the chalk from his hand. Realizing how carried away he had gotten, Hajin cleared his throat and grabbed the lectern again, trying to regain his composure.

“…Sorry about that. I think I overdid it a bit because I wanted to make a good impression.”

For someone who had just been ranting in informal speech with his sleeves rolled up, his sudden shyness was somehow even more infuriating. His embarrassed smile, resembling that of a student teacher on a breezy April day with cherry blossoms fluttering around, made a few of the nearby students emit soft sighs.

Hajin checked his watch and said, “So, anyway, the answer is number 1. Did everyone understand? …There are about 10 minutes left. Is there anything else anyone wants to do?”

The classroom atmosphere lightened in an instant.

J bit her lip quietly as she watched her classmates eagerly raise their hands. No matter how much she might feel like the most pitiful and burdened student in the world, she knew well enough that what she had just done was clearly picking a fight.

She also knew that Hajin had handled the situation with grace, preventing her from becoming an outcast among her classmates.

“……”

Her grades, her friendships, her circumstances.

Everything was a mess.

The moment J noticed Haru and Hajin glancing in her direction, she quickly lowered her head. She didn’t raise it again until the bell rang.

* * *

“…Yes, Hajin, Haru. It’s time for us to wrap it up and move on.”

“Ah~”

There were still two or three minutes left before the bell would ring.

The PD, who had been filming the classroom interactions, signaled that it was time to leave, and the students let out disappointed groans. Although we would have loved to stay until the bell rang, moving during the break posed potential safety risks, so we had to leave the classroom.

I patted Haru’s shoulder, who looked just as disappointed, and gave a final farewell to the students of Class 9.

“It’s a shame, but it seems we have to go now. Um… Today was really fun. Solving those mock exam questions after so long made me realize I’ve still got it. Thank you so much for welcoming us. I know you must be under a lot of stress with the exams and all, but I hope today brought you a little bit of joy.”

Even though we were here to promote the group, I genuinely meant it when I said I hoped we could bring some comfort to these students.

There was so much more I wanted to say, but I knew if I went on any longer, it would just turn into a pretentious lecture. Holding back the flood of comforting and encouraging words in my mouth, I handed the floor over to Haru.

“……”

“……?”

But why wasn’t he saying anything?

I had gone through the trouble of holding back and stepping aside, yet Haru just stood there in front of the lectern, pressing his hands together.

‘Is he thinking about what to say?’

Just as I was about to signal him, thinking it would look awkward if this dragged on, Haru suddenly raised his head and spoke.

“I…!”

“Whoa, you scared me.”

“I’ve never experienced the college entrance exam or admissions process.”

“……?”

“But I do know how daunting it feels to live through time you can never get back.”

Suddenly?

I had expected him to give a simple cheer-up message, but he was suddenly reminiscing about his time as a regressor, and I found myself widening my eyes in surprise.

Curious to see where he was going with this, I decided to listen. Haru, filled with sincerity, continued to speak to the students.

“Um, so what I’m trying to say is….”

“……”

“I just want to tell you that enduring this time you’re going through now is something truly incredible.”

“……”

“Out of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the only thing we can change is tomorrow. Even if today was the worst, tomorrow could be better, so….”

This kid, who once tried to escape forever into the past because he was scared of the future, was now speaking so eloquently.

Or was he only able to say this because he had gone through that?

Feeling proud of how much he had grown, I smiled, but then noticed Haru’s gaze fixed on something. Following his line of sight, I saw the student who had asked me to solve the mock exam questions earlier.

Haru was looking at the student, who had kept her head down the whole time, as he delivered his final words.

“So, I hope you can hang in there. Fighting.”

It was as if he regretted that all he could offer was words.

With a small, determined gesture, Haru clenched his fists as he finished his message.

Polite applause echoed through the classroom, and as we left, the student still hadn’t raised her head. When I glanced back as we closed the door, it looked like she might have been lying down, crying.

Waiting for the other members who were slowly trickling out of other classrooms, I rested my arm on Haru’s head, noticing he seemed deep in thought.

“Sparkling.”

“…Yes?”

“Do you know that student from earlier? The one with the mock exam questions.”

“Oh.”

When I asked casually, Haru nodded slightly.

“When we were performing in the auditorium earlier, I saw her crying. She was sitting up front, so I noticed by chance.”

“And it bothered you because she was crying?”

“No, not really…. I’m not sure.”

Haru shrugged his shoulders with an awkward smile, and I decided not to press further. It seemed like he was feeling something similar to when the youngest member of Stormheader had said he was jealous of him.

But it was Haru who broke the silence again.

“Hajin hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“About that homework you gave me this morning.”

“Yeah?”

“If I want to find the answer, I’ll have to do everything I can, right?”

“Do whatever you think is best. There’s no deadline.”

I nodded coolly, and Haru, looking as if he had made up his mind, bit his lip in determination.

Wait a minute, that’s the face of the baby rabbit warrior when he decides something on his own, without telling his teammates.

A slight sense of unease washed over me, and I almost asked him, ‘What is it that you think you can do?’ But just then, the other members arrived, and in the rush to leave the school, I missed my chance.

“Guys, are we

all here? We’re heading straight back to Seoul without any extra stops, so let’s get on the bus quickly.”

As soon as we stepped outside, the bell signaling the start of the break rang. Along with it came the voices of students calling out to us from their classroom windows. We waved back and nodded in acknowledgment, but quickly got into the van to avoid any potential safety issues.

“If you forgot anything, the staff will take care of it, so just let me know. Hajin, you too, get in the front seat quickly.”

“I was going to sit in the back with Haru….”

“There’s no time for that. We need to get back to Seoul quickly.”

“Do we have another schedule? I thought this was it for today.”

I had planned to sit with Haru and ask him more questions, but in the end, I had to sit in the passenger seat because Wook-hyung was rushing us.

This isn’t like him, why is he suddenly in such a hurry?

As I buckled up, along with the other members, Wook-hyung carefully checked to make sure everyone was seated and secured before starting the van.

“Hyung, why are you in such a rush today? Are you worried about an accident? Or that the students might follow us?”

It wasn’t really a situation where we had to worry about accidents, so I asked while holding onto the handle by the window. Wook-hyung, with a strange expression that I couldn’t quite decipher, responded, sniffling.

“It’s dangerous, so don’t be alarmed when you hear this.”

“…? What is it? Your driving looks like the biggest danger right now.”

“The Director has woken up.”

“…What?”

“The hospital called. The Director woke up, and they’re running tests to check his condition.”

Ji Suho had woken up.

At that moment, nothing felt more frustrating than the fact that I didn’t have a teleportation skill.