Chapter 135: A Small Trigger (7)
135. A Small Trigger (7)
Dan Ha-ru had only joined Miro Entertainment two years ago.
And Cha Min-seok had transferred to Rene Entertainment three years prior.
"...How did Ha-ru know Min-seok?"
Hajin rewound time in his mind, recalling a conversation he'd had with Ha-ru and Eun-chan months ago during the "Seo Tae-hyun Desertion Incident."
ㅡRemember that place we all went on a trip together? Back when Min-seok hyung was still around.
ㅡAh, right! Could it be—
ㅡThat was your uncle's pension, wasn't it? He must've gone there. Since Tae-hyun hyung is close with your uncle.
When Min-seok was at Miro, Ha-ru wasn't there yet.
So how could those four have memories of traveling together?
"Ugh, what the hell. This gives me the creeps."
[System Alert: Am... Am I trembling...?]
[System Alert: The system is shivering uncontrollably from this sudden genre shift...]
Hajin rubbed his goosebump-covered arms. Sipsam was also making the system window tremble violently.
#RegressionStory #IdolDrama #MisunderstandingArc wasn't enough, now we're doing #Horror?
Praying this wasn't veering into Lovecraftian territory, Hajin took a deep breath and continued his deductions.
"First, I should confirm this with Seo Tae-hyun and Joo Eun-chan. Min-seok didn't immediately cut ties with Tae-hyun after moving to Rene, so it's possible the four of them hung out during that transition period."
Hajin forced himself to remain calm.
But the unsettling feeling wasn't just from that.
As one piece fell into place, a chain reaction of other memories followed.
"When I first arrived here, the department head tried to take Ha-ru and Eun-chan. Between the two, Eun-chan had clear utility."
There was a pretext to frame Eun-chan as a nepotism hire.
But Ha-ru?
Why would the department head, out of all the trainees, choose to take Ha-ru?
Ha-ru, who hadn't been at the company long enough to prove anything as a trainee.
[System Alert: Maybe he saw potential?]
[System Alert: After all, even when Ha-ru first joined, people said he was overflowing with potential.]
"If it was just the department head's eye for talent... I guess I can't argue with that."
Hajin fell deep into thought.
There was no concrete evidence that Ha-ru was a Selective Regressor.
But once the sense of dissonance took root, the flames of suspicion grew uncontrollably.
"It is strange, though. That sparkly bastard was involved in everything."
The first person to tell him about the department head incident,
The one who informed him about Tae-hyun's fight with Min-seok at Rene,
The one who created an opportunity for Gong Seok to talk to him after his fight with Team A,
The one who led him to the convenience store where Yu-geon was during his disappearance,
The one who witnessed Tae-hyun and Belieber's incident at A-Countdown this time—
"...Every single time, it was Ha-ru."
Ha-ru was present in every incident.
But Hajin's unease didn't stop there.
"But why... why did I never find this strange before?"
The foundation of any #MysteryStory is suspicion and wariness.
He'd only ever doubted Ha-ru's name—never questioned his actions.
"Me? Kang Hajin? I missed this?"
The same kid who painstakingly saved up allowance money to buy the complete Sherlock Holmes collection as a child? Who read so many detective comics that he became wary of coat hangers for a while?
[System Alert: Sniff... Our genre-regressing protagonist is such an otaku...]
Shut the hell up, you little shit.
Hajin closed Sipsam's window like he'd pressed Alt+F4.
Meanwhile, his memories rewound again.
ㅡMy grandmother used to say... When you think too much and it scares you, sometimes it's better to just stop thinking.
Who said that to him?
No, more importantly—
During the Infinite Regression incident, how did they know the Candy Crush team was practicing at that time?
It wasn't like the Candy Crush team was always practicing during every regression loop.
No, even before that—
Throughout all those countless regression loops, during all that time Hajin spent trying to stop the regression—
"What was Ha-ru doing? Where was he?"
Images of Ha-ru flashed through Hajin's mind, appearing and disappearing.
But no matter how hard he tried, Hajin couldn't recall any concrete memories of Ha-ru.
As if someone had cut them all out.
After dinner, a late-night meeting about the fourth competition began.
Four trainees, including Hajin, sat in a circle on the practice room floor.
As usual, Si-woo took the lead in guiding the discussion.
"While we were eating, I heard Doha's team is going full hip-hop. I think focusing on vocals was the right choice for us."
"Oh, I heard something too. Tae-hyun hyung's team is doing 'Deep into You.' Sounds like they're going for a dance-heavy performance."
"Really? That works out even better then."
"Y-yeah. I think we made a good choice."
At Ha-ru's words, Si-woo and Seok-i nodded in agreement.
Though unintentional, each team had naturally gravitated toward rap, dance, and vocals as their main focus.
"Since we're really betting everything on our voices, song selection is crucial for this stage too. Let's review the songs we shortlisted earlier."
Jung Si-woo's meeting style was clean and efficient.
Even Ha-ru and Gong Seok, who had been struggling to collect themselves earlier, seemed determined to focus and contribute ideas.
Si-woo accessed YouTube on the tablet provided by the production team and played the candidate songs one by one.
"Hmm, I think this song might be too difficult."
"This one feels awkward to rearrange acoustically, so I'll pass."
"Ah... W-what about this song? I found it while we were eating..."
Gong Seok fumbled as he searched for the song he'd found earlier.
His shoulders were tense, and he kept making typos—clearly more nervous than usual.
Watching Seok-i sweat bullets just to find and play one song, Si-woo gently patted his shoulder.
"Seok-ah. Take your time. We're not in a huge rush."
"Ah, yeah. My fingers keep slipping..."
Seok-i forced an awkward smile and finally managed to play the song.
It was an OST from a recently concluded campus romance drama, with lyrics that poignantly captured the struggles of wandering youth.
"If we're going for a lyrical vibe anyway, I wanted something with meaningful lyrics..."
As Gong Seok spoke, Si-woo quietly listened to the song, lost in thought.
Si-woo's gaze moved from the lyrics on the tablet screen to Seok-i, who was nervously wringing his hands like a guilty man.
Si-woo's lips twitched as if debating whether to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
He only spoke again after Seok-i's song choice finished playing.
"...It's a good song, but I'm worried it might be too subdued and dark for a competition. There aren't many variations either, so rearrangement options are limited."
"O-oh, is that so? Haha, maybe I was too focused on my own taste. Sorry."
At Si-woo's assessment, Seok-i's shoulders slumped again. As Seok-i hurriedly apologized, one of Si-woo's eyebrows twitched slightly. While Si-woo quickly smoothed his expression, Ha-ru deliberately brightened his tone to lighten the mood.
"Hyung, what if we arranged the harmonies more dynamically? Since the melody is simple, an a cappella-style arrangement might change the feel entirely."
"That's not wrong... But the theme is still pretty melancholic, so it feels risky."
"Umm, ah, then maybe..."
"Ah, Ha-ru-ya, we don't have to do this song. ...It's fine. We can just look for others."
Seok-i waved his hands, signaling it was okay—he'd realized Ha-ru was only suggesting this for his sake.
But seeing the shadow over Seok-i's face and Si-woo's discomfort with the situation, Ha-ru desperately searched for a way to salvage the mood.
"W-well... What about Hajin hyung!?"
"...Huh?"
After quickly scanning his surroundings, Ha-ru latched onto his last lifeline like a baby rabbit warrior discovering an irreplaceable carrot. Clutching Hajin's arm with sparkling eyes, he pleaded:
"Hyung, what do you think of this song? Or do you have any other ideas...?"
Faced with Sparkles' desperate SOS to save this murderous atmosphere, Crisis Man Kang Hajin blinked dazedly at his teammates. Even the camera director and PD watching from afar were staring at him, waiting for his answer.
Under that unbearable spotlight, Crisis Man Kang Hajin thought:
'Shit, I'm screwed. I wasn't even listening.'
While distracted by his Selective Regressor hunt, things had apparently gone south.
After a moment's thought, Hajin looked down at Ha-ru, who was still clinging to his arm.
"Ow! Hyung! Why are you like this!?"
"Your cheeks are so round, I just wanted to pinch them."
"Eeek! Oww!"
And with that, he promptly pinched Ha-ru's cheek.
'This damn sparkly bastard made me lose focus... And he had to look so harmless that I can't even stay mad.'
[System Alert: ...? You're pinching his cheek right now?]
'Want me to pinch yours too?'
[System Alert: No thanks.]
[System Alert: (Alt+F4)]
Fearing this madman might actually pinch a system window, Sipsam force-closed itself.
Meanwhile, after releasing Ha-ru's cheek, Hajin finally took stock of the practice room's atmosphere.
"Well, my opinion is..."
Sparkles, now a prime suspect, was rubbing his sore cheek and whimpering.
Si-woo and Seok-i waited silently for Hajin's answer.
The problem? Hajin hadn't heard a single word of the meeting.
How do you answer a question you didn't hear?
Of course, if he admitted that to Si-woo—who currently looked like he'd been sharpening knives—he'd be skinned alive.
"Haha, oh my. Looks like Miro's resident Zhuge Liang is needed again. Being the idea bank is exhausting."
'Hey, hey, hey. Sipsam. Get out here. Give me a three-line summary of the situation.'
[System Alert: Now you're using the system as a cheat sheet...?]
'Be grateful I'm not using you as rolling paper.'
[System Alert: You're actually insane...]
[System Alert: ヽ(●ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ●)ﾉﾟ]
No longer bothering to hide his thoughts, Sipsam reluctantly summarized the situation.
So basically, right now:
Gong Seok is depressed,
Jung Si-woo is depressed because Gong Seok is depressed,
Dan Ha-ru is depressed because his hyungs are depressed,
Amidst all this depression, they're debating how to perform this depressing song in a non-depressing way,
Or rather, how to escape this depressing atmosphere—
Understanding this depressive ouroboros, Hajin smacked his lips.
"Well, you see... I think this song is quite depressing, right? Because it's depressing. But! It also has some good elements, you know? So, um..."
"Just say you don't have any ideas."
"No? I do? I thought really hard, hyung-nim."
This was a trap interrogation.
If he answered, "Yes! I have no thoughts! Because I wasn't paying attention during the meeting! I didn't even really listen to the song! What's depressing? Haha, no clue!" Si-woo would look at him the same way he'd looked at Han Seong-woo when he hadn't practiced.
'...Huh? Why does that suddenly piss me off?'
Recalling Si-woo's gaze, Hajin's mood soured slightly. For some reason, that was unacceptable.
"So! My opinion is... Well!"
Roll, brain, roll.
If I don't find an answer that satisfies both hyungs, this team project is doomed...!