Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 21. The Most Effective Way to Remove a Bomb (6)

“You can debut.”

“…….”

“As long as you do well.”

“Are you mocking me?”

Seo Taehyun’s eyes turned triangular as he spoke while tapping my shoulder. Maybe it was because he had a gentle appearance but a surprisingly sharp gaze. From the way he glared, he seemed to have some spirit. He looked like he’d do well in front of a camera.

“Haven’t you heard my nickname around the company? I’m the Zhuge Liang of Miro.”

“Good for you, being called Zhuge Liang.”

“Zhuge Liang Hajin hyung knows everything better than you.”

I mixed in some humor with a kindly face, and I saw Seo Taehyun’s gaze soften a bit. But this alone wouldn’t be enough to recruit him as a colleague. The system window also showed no significant reaction.

So in times like this, it’s best to hit hard first.

“Taehyun, do you want to see something?”

“…What.”

I pulled out a bundle of documents and a USB stick that I’d kept hidden deep in my bag since coming down to Gangwon Province. It was obvious I’d tried to keep it well, but the passage of time had inevitably worn and frayed the corners. Seo Taehyun recognized it immediately.

“How did you get this, hyung…?”

“You were going to send this to the director, weren’t you? A few years ago.”

“Did you get it from Cha Minseok? That bastard still had this, no way?”

[System Alert: ‘Seo Taehyun’ is reacting to you. (Reaction rate -23%)]

Wow, look at that reaction.

“If you know, you’ll get hurt. It’s a trade secret.”

Though he no longer bit his lip, his shoulders shook finely with tightly clenched fists. His cautious breathing became irregular, and his pupils trembled visibly as he checked the envelope.

‘It’s troublesome if he reacts like this already.’

I hadn’t even started my prepared speech.

“Cha Minseok is a bastard and all, but we’ll talk about that later. Taehyun.”

“…….”

“I’m going to say something harsh now.”

“…….”

“I hate that this is reality too, but since it is, listen without misunderstanding.”

I firmly clasped Seo Taehyun’s fist, which was gripping the worn bundle of documents as if he were about to cry, and spoke resolutely.

“You can never blow this up. Not then, not now.”

I took out another bunch of papers from my bag and placed them in front of Seo Taehyun.

“Think about it. Do you think you were the only one who tried to report the director?”

From when I first heard the story from Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru to when I recently met Ji Suho.

The first thing I did was investigate the whereabouts of trainees who had quit in the last 2-3 years. When I gathered those who had quit or been fired because of the director, the number was quite substantial.

– But… this is really useless. I tried legal advice several times and looked for ways, but it never worked out.

– Please, don’t drag me into this. Just thinking about what that guy did to me makes me shudder.

All of them were fired without the director even hearing about it.

“He’s just an old man in the backroom within Miro, but outside, he’s a respected middle-manager in the entertainment industry.”

“…….”

“Producers, journalists, media companies. Those people have had meals and drinks with him hundreds of times more than you, who haven’t even debuted.”

“So? Are you telling me not to waste my time and just live quietly? Did you come all the way to Gangwon Province to say that?”

I looked at Seo Taehyun, who felt powerless and angry in the face of reality.

Until recently, I honestly didn’t care whether this guy debuted or not. In the lives I remembered, Seo Taehyun had never debuted, or he had disappeared because he failed even if he did.

“Taehyun.”

But now it was different.

“Trust me just once.”

I had to make you debut.

“You can debut. Really.”

Seo Taehyun still looked at me with a skeptical face.

To a guy who had been unable to debut for years and was about to give up being a trainee, it probably sounded like a pipe dream. But I wasn’t someone who spoke without reason.

With a face full of certainty, I added a condition.

“As long as you do well.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“I couldn’t be more serious.”

“It’s hard to trust you like this.”

“Listen up, punk.”

I spoke seriously, but he still didn’t seem convinced.

“There will be an in-house survival competition.”

I handed him the plan for the upcoming boy group survival show, which I had prepared to persuade Seo Taehyun.

Before coming down here, I had confirmed through Ji Suho that this plan had been submitted to the company’s higher-ups and that negotiations with the production company and broadcasting channel were underway.

By now, the director should have started hearing about it.

“There are many survival shows with pre-determined winners, but this time, Team Leader Ji Suho and Senior Seo Taeil will participate from the planning stage to prevent that.”

It was Ji Suho’s idea to bring in Seo Taeil from Utopia. Because of Seo Taeil’s position as an in-house director and his recent interest in developing new talents, he thought it would make the picture look better in various ways.

…Although I was a bit scared of facing his perverted directing style again.

“In a survival competition, judging is important, but you can’t ignore the audience’s reaction and votes.”

“…….”

“This time, you can really debut. As long as you do well.”

In reality, the advantage Seo Taehyun would gain from “Boy’s World Cherry Boy” would only be the initial rush.

As other trainees were revealed, they’d also gain fans, and fresh newbies might become more popular than Seo Taehyun, whose image had already been consumed.

But he was ‘that’ Seo Taehyun.

The Seo Taehyun who grabbed the older fans by the collar and made it to the finals with just one cheerful, lively cherry boy character.

[Today’s highest-rated scene from Boy’s World.gif (ㅇㅇ Cherry Boy)]

[The youngest contestant on Boy’s World whose expression changes 17 times in 5 seconds]

[A gif of Seo Taehyun’s stage from Boy’s World hitting 30,000 retweets on Twitter]

The guy who made headlines even with just a 3-second scene of eating dumplings in a whole episode couldn’t be pushed out in a survival show.

‘Worrying about myself would be better than worrying about him.’

“Most importantly, the director can’t interfere with this survival show. I plan to make sure of that.”

With my final words, I saw hope start to sprout on Seo Taehyun’s face. He looked up at me after reading through the plan and asked.

“Do you really think so? That I can debut?”

[System Alert: ‘Seo Taehyun’ is reacting to you. Whether you recruit him as a colleague will be determined by your future conversations.]

[Colleague recruitment status 1/??]

“Why are you doing this for me? Honestly, we’re… not that close.”

It was quite an important moment. Depending on what I said, Seo Taehyun’s fate in this life would change.

And it felt even heavier than when I revealed a bit of my inner thoughts to Ji Suho.

After a brief silence, I answered.

“I voted for you.”

“…….”

“You were good. I was really envious watching you.”

I remembered the final stage of this guy, who shone quite brightly in my first life. I still vividly recalled the moments when I watched his stage in the practice room, studying his expressions and gestures.

I thought, if someone like me who lived four lives and became a trainee again could change something, why not someone who worked harder than me?

“Let’s go together, Seo Taehyun.”

“…….”

“You love the stage, don’t you?”

[System Alert: ‘Seo Taehyun’ is reacting to you. (Reaction rate 89.7%)

‘Seo Taehyun’ can be recruited.]

[Would you like to recruit him? (Y/N)]

Seo Taehyun’s head drooped. The plan he held got soaked with his tears until it became damp, and I waited for him silently.

* * *

“Have a meal before you go.”

“The bus will be late. We’ll eat in Seoul. Thank you.”

“Taehyun, make sure to call your mom on the way.”

“…Yeah. I’ll go now, Uncle.”

I wanted to accept Seo Taehyun’s uncle’s offer to have a meal, but unfortunately, tomorrow was a weekday.

To avoid being kicked out for bad behavior before participating in the survival show, Seo Taehyun and I had to board the bus to Seoul with our growling stomachs.

“…….”

“…….”

The journey was quiet.

I was tired, and he seemed embarrassed from crying earlier, but it was fine because I didn’t have the energy to argue.

“Hyung.”

“Hyung is sleeping.”

“At least close your eyes if you’re pretending to sleep.”

“Hyung sleeps with his eyes open.”

I tried to brush it off, but Seo Taehyun stared at me as if he was wondering what I was. Eventually, I adjusted my posture.

“What, what do you want to say?”

“…What if I said I wouldn’t go to Seoul?”

“Were you thinking of not going?”

“I might have said I’m fed up with survival shows.”

I wondered what he was talking about all of a sudden, but his expression was quite serious.

The problem was that, tired and hungry, I was too exhausted to accommodate his delicate feelings.

“Cha Minseok is debuting

in June. Do you want to be called junior or compete in a survival show and at least be on equal footing?”

“…….”

“…That’s what I was going to say.”

“Are you a devil?”

“I go to church.”

Seo Taehyun was speechless. What? Why?

“Taehyun.”

“…….”

“Never mind. Give me those evidence documents I gave you earlier. I need to think about how to use them on the way.”

“You said they couldn’t be exposed.”

“You can’t do it.”

“Can you?”

“I’ll think about it. Oh, hurry.”

Under my urging, Seo Taehyun slowly took out the evidence bundle. He hesitated for a moment, looking like a sparrow watching for danger.

“What are you doing? Give it here.”

“Well… it’s a bit wet….”

“I know. I’ll use the tear-stained evidence well, so just give it to me.”

“But it’s all smudged… Is it okay? Later, like, for legal effectiveness…”

He had a surprisingly thorough side despite his gentle appearance. And he held onto the precious evidence bundle and cried?

‘I shouldn’t say that or I’ll become a prime example of ‘those who live by the mouth die by the mouth.’

With a socially adept smile and a kindly tone, I said.

“Of course, they’re scanned copies. How could I bring the originals? What if I left them on the train?”

“Oh.”

“I’m just going to read them temporarily, so don’t worry and give them to me.”

With that, Seo Taehyun handed over the now dry documents. The papers rustled.

‘From contracts to whatever… you’ve collected quite a lot.’

“But seriously, what are you going to do? You said there was no way.”

“You can’t do it.”

“Can you?”

“Neither can I. What difference does it make?”

“…What? Then what are you going to do?”

Seo Taehyun was confused by my ambiguous words. I neatly organized the documents and put them deep in my bag, looking at Seo Taehyun.

“Do you know what’s important when you’re hunting a big opponent?”

“Oh, what are you talking about now?”

“The first strike and numbers.”

“…….”

“You can’t do it, and I can’t do it either. But if we do it together, the situation changes.”

I smiled, thrilled at the thought of ruining the director. Seo Taehyun’s already large eyes grew wider as he gradually understood what I meant.

The train to Seoul finally departed, and I looked out the window with a light heart, thinking.

‘So, how should I wreck things now?’