Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 331. Our Child Has Changed (2)

The curtains were raised on a super long hidden camera show lasting at least three months.

The targets: the entire nation.

The leads: me, Dan Haru, Lee Doha, and Lee Yugeon.

The title: “The Puberty of the Baby Rabbit Warrior.”

The script went something like this:

Dan Haru, now in the tumultuous age of eighteen (not a curse), had never had time to reflect on his inner self due to the exhausting and rigorous schedules since his trainee days. However, a series of events that started during his recent break made him contemplate the emptiness of life….

Coincidentally, as we prepared an album that discusses youth, he began a serious journey of self-reflection.

-“Do you think Jung Siwoo and Seo Taehyun will buy this?”

-“That’s why we need to lay the groundwork well… I mean, drop the hints properly.”

-“How are we going to do that?”

-“Listen.”

Being meticulous, we didn’t forget to add details.

Although Dan Haru had always seemed cheerful on the outside, the truth was that he had been secretly consulting with his roommate, Lee Yugeon, at night about his worries. His concerns and thoughts gradually deepened, and today, Lee Yugeon, who could no longer watch him struggle alone, brought him to us to discuss it together.

-“We’ll do our best to cover for you, but your role is crucial too, Dan Haru. If the gap between the old you and the new you is too wide, everyone will notice.”

-“I get it.”

-“No informal speech. Dan Haru never spoke informally to us.”

-“…Can’t I just say I started today?”

-“No.”

-“……Sigh.”

-“Also, no smoking.”

-“…….”

-“Drinking? Absolutely not. Swearing? Just try it, and I’ll make sure you live as Dan Haru forever.”

The irony of threatening him to live in his own body forever, but it worked, so that was enough.

Just in case, before leaving the studio, we conducted several rehearsals under the guise of a pre-check. Dan Haru, who initially endured them without much complaint, finally narrowed his eyes in annoyance when Lee Doha asked, “What was the side dish that you and Taehyun argued so fiercely about three days ago at the dinner table?”

Surprisingly, he was more patient than I expected.

By the way, the answer was braised anchovies.

-“Alright, let’s head back. We still have school during the day, and once the comeback starts, everyone will be too busy to notice. We might be able to pull this off smoothly.”

-“…I have to go to school too?”

-“Of course. If you’re upset, blame your past self for regressing to a teenager.”

-“…….”

At the mention of school, Dan Haru made a slightly complicated expression, but I pretended not to notice and firmly stated that he had to go. Our company had a policy that everyone must earn a high school diploma.

Anyway, with our resolve, we left the studio. Although I felt bad for Lee Doha and Lee Yugeon, who were suddenly burdened with this responsibility, it seemed like they had quickly accepted the situation, likely thanks to the events at the villa. At least I wasn’t the only one dealing with this absurd situation.

‘It might be a good idea to recruit Yugeon and Jung Siwoo as allies soon….’

It had been a while since I learned about the criteria for recruiting allies, but there still wasn’t even a hint of it from those two.

‘What is this “reaction rate” anyway? Haven’t we become closer by now?’

Just as I was lost in thought with that question, Lee Doha, who had finished rehearsing, was the first to stand up.

“Alright, let’s head back to the dorm.”

“To the dorm? Already?”

“We have a schedule meeting in the evening. The pickup point is at the dorm. Hajin and I also need to change clothes.”

At Lee Doha’s words, Dan Haru got up more obediently than I expected. And so, we left the chaotic studio.

As we walked through the company corridors, Lee Yugeon, who kept glancing back at Dan Haru with a doubtful expression, approached me with a worried whisper.

“Are you sure it’s okay to take him to the dorm like this? …I’m really uneasy about this.”

“What else can we do? Lock him up in the studio?”

“What if we run into someone at the company?”

“Don’t worry. Everyone’s busy at this hour. And even if we do, so what? It might be better to deal with it sooner rather than later….”

“Oh? It’s Little Taeil!”

…No, damn it.

I didn’t mean we should run into someone this soon.

The booming voice that could shatter eardrums made me instinctively freeze in place. As a result, Lee Doha and Lee Yugeon, who were looking back to check on Dan Haru, bumped into my back one after another. It would have been satisfying if Dan Haru had bumped into us too, but that annoying blackened rabbit warrior quickly took a step back, avoiding the pile-up.

“Oh, all the baby nephews are here! I’m so lucky!”

“…Should we pretend we didn’t hear that and run?”

“Can we…?”

The voice was too loud to ignore, and the person speaking was of higher rank. Concluding that it was too late to run, I politely bowed to the two tall figures standing in front of the vending machine in the company corridor.

“Hello, Downie hyung.”

“Hello. Where are you all headed? You dyed your hair for the comeback, huh? Haru looks like a puppy with his brown hair~ If I knew we’d meet here, I would’ve brought some cookies. I bought some really good ones at Haetoo. Let me know if you’re interested; I’ll send a few boxes to the dorm.”

…That was Nam Daun from Utopia, who dominated the audio just with a single greeting, and,

“…Hello, sunbae-nim.”

“Hi, long time no see. Congratulations on the comeback.”

No matter how you looked at it, with a face that looked like it could burst a blood vessel in your ear, he calmly held a canned coffee and looked like he was filming a commercial, the legendary center of Enderway, Choi Yeonwoo.

As I greeted them first, the other members followed suit. Meanwhile, Dan Haru tried to slip away, but Lee Yugeon immediately poked his side and grabbed the back of his head to force him to greet them. It was so natural that I was impressed.

Choi Yeonwoo, who took a sip of his canned coffee, showing off his picturesque nose bridge, awkwardly smiled and spoke first.

“Please understand Downie hyung’s chatter. After being on Haetoo for months, he’s too excited to finally chat in Korean again.”

But he spoke a hundred words a day in the local language even overseas.

…Though I wanted to retort, I held back. I also held back the reply, “Even if he stayed in Korea for 365 days, he would always chatter away at that same energy level.”

The key now was to quickly escape from these two and get back to the dorm. I quickly put on my socializing smile.

“Haha, it’s fine. We’re used to it by now…. But hyungs, we have a schedule, so we should….”

“Haru Haru! You have to do this with your cute Downie hyung!”

…Did that guy just call himself “cute Downie hyung”?

However, what was even more surprising than that extreme nickname was Nam Daun’s next action.

From the moment we made eye contact, he had been wagging an invisible tail like a dog excited to meet a friend on a walk (how?), and while I was talking to Choi Yeonwoo, he suddenly shot past us and made a beeline for Dan Haru, who had been hiding between the two doors…!

‘He pushed aside two guys who are both 185cm with just one hand?’

It shocked even me to witness it, but the guys who got shoved were even more stunned. Blinking stupidly, the Lee brothers were left leaning against the wall, staring at Nam Daun in disbelief.

That tiny Chihuahua-Maltese mix had just conquered our household’s bear-like siblings…

‘Ah, geez. This isn’t the time to get sidetracked….’

I quickly grabbed hold of my wandering thoughts. Nam Daun was still standing in front of Dan Haru with that bright expression.

Even the blackened Dan Haru seemed slightly overwhelmed, looking up at Nam Daun with a hint of intimidation. Dan Haru was just slightly taller, yet it seemed like that didn’t matter.

“Come on!”

“……?”

“You promised! Whenever we meet, we have to do this!”

Nam Daun, staring at Dan Haru with bright eyes, suddenly lifted both arms high like he was cheering. Dan Haru, his face showing he had no idea what this was about, furrowed his brow slightly in confusion. Nam Daun immediately caught the slight change in expression and grumbled with disappointment.

“Don’t tell me you forgot? We promised over and over during the team dinner that we’d never forget and always do this whenever we met! Downie hyung even practiced while on Haetoo, just thinking about meeting you!”

What? Why? Why would you practice something like that on Haetoo?

I glanced at Lee Yugeon for help, but he shook his head vigorously, indicating he had no idea either.

‘We’re screwed.’

Whatever this thing is that Nam Daun practiced overseas, if we don’t respond properly, he’s likely

to throw a fit for at least three months…!

With emergency signals blaring in my mind, I instinctively moved my feet. Whatever it was, I had to come up with something to distract Nam Daun….

“Hyung, Haru isn’t feeling well today….”

“…I know.”

“…Huh?”

Did he just say he knows?

Surprised by the unexpected response, I stopped in my tracks. I almost lost my balance and stumbled, but Lee Doha reflexively grabbed me, preventing a fall. If he had this kind of strength, he could have used it to stop Nam Daun earlier.

Even as I thought that, I kept my eyes fixed on Dan Haru and Nam Daun. Dan Haru, as if he had met his greatest nemesis, had his guard up and was awkwardly biting his lower lip.

‘Wow, he’s deciding.’

Whatever it was, I could see that he was making a firm decision in real-time.

Soon, Dan Haru raised both hands high into the air like Nam Daun. Four hands lifted grandly, as if performing some sort of ritual, then collided mid-air with a crisp sound.

“……?”

Clap, clap―!

The sound of their clapping was so sharp it could have been mistaken for a drum hi-hat. Nam Daun and Dan Haru first clapped hands, then shoulders, and finally, after some mysterious chants, tapped their feet together and started to move in a dance-like step.

The more they continued their routine, the more excited Nam Daun became, while Dan Haru’s neck and ears turned redder with every passing moment, which was an unexpectedly cute sight.

“Down!”

“…Dan.”

“Brothers!”

So that was what Nam Daun had been practicing during his overseas tour, eager to do with Dan Haru when they met.

That strange hand signal… no, no, body signal… no, dance… no, no…

‘What do I even call that ritual?’

Nam Daun, finally linking arms with Dan Haru in an X-shape, shouted an ending pose and chant. It was loud and flamboyant, something that the Sparkling version of Dan Haru would have eagerly done.

…It’s just that the current version of Dan Haru is a blackened rabbit warrior who has seen the world’s harshest storms and has never done anything as soft as this.

“…Brothers.”

Despite everything, Dan Haru managed to finish the chant. His face had turned completely red, not just his neck and ears, but he seemed to be aware of it too.

‘It makes sense. Even if he’s lived 25,000 lifetimes, he probably never did anything like this with anyone.’

Regardless, it seemed Dan Haru was sincere about cooperating so that no one would suspect he had changed. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, it was undoubtedly a much better attitude than being completely uncooperative.

Having completed the mysterious gesture, Nam Daun, grinning with satisfaction and showing off his cute smile that drove fans wild, suddenly pulled Dan Haru into a hug.

“What the! You remembered everything? I almost got upset, thinking you forgot~”

Dan Haru awkwardly returned the hug, neither fully embracing Nam Daun nor pulling away completely. Nam Daun, as if truly hugging a younger brother he cherished, patted Dan Haru’s back a few times before finally releasing him.

Dan Haru’s ears were still bright red.

“Huh…?”

“……?”

I was timing our escape, preparing to pull Dan Haru away from Nam Daun and make a run for the dorm when I heard another unsettling sound from Nam Daun. He scrutinized Dan Haru’s face like he was inspecting an experiment, then tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“Haru seems a bit off today.”

“……!”

“He feels a little different than usual.”

Wow, this guy is super sharp.

The atmosphere in the hallway instantly turned tense. Well, nothing had actually changed, but cold sweat was now running down the backs of all the Kairos members, including me.

‘Nam Daun, you human natural disaster…!’

I might have to dig up some dirt on Nam Daun.

I had no idea what to use, but I was going to sell it. I absolutely would.

The already daunting nationwide deception by Kairos was going to be even more treacherous right from the start.