Chapter 135. A Small Trigger (7)
Dan Haru had only joined Miro two years ago.
And Cha Minseok had transferred to Renes three years ago.
“…How did Dan Haru know Cha Minseok?”
Hajin, trying to piece together the past, recalled the conversation he had with Haru and Eunchan several months ago during the “Seo Taehyun Escape Incident.”
-Do you remember the place where we all went to hang out before? Even when Minseok hyung was with us.
-Oh, then maybe?
-It was said that the place was owned by hyung’s uncle, right? I’m sure he went there. Taehyun hyung is close with his uncle.
When Cha Minseok was at Miro, Dan Haru wasn’t there.
So, how could the four of them have a shared memory of going on a trip together?
“Oh, shit, what the heck. I’ve got goosebumps.”
[System Alert: Are you… trembling?]
[System Alert: The system is shaking, overwhelmed by the sudden genre shift…]
Hajin rubbed his arm, trying to get rid of the goosebumps that had appeared suddenly. Even Thirteen was shivering, the system window trembling.
**#RegressorStory, #IdolStory, #MisunderstandingStory**
And now, it was turning into a **#HorrorStory**?
Hoping that it wasn’t a Cthulhu mythos, Hajin took a deep breath and continued his deduction.
“First, let’s confirm this with Seo Taehyun and Joo Eunchan. Since Seo Taehyun didn’t immediately cut ties with Cha Minseok after he moved to Renes, there might have been a time when the four of them went on a trip together.”
Hajin tried to remain calm.
But it wasn’t just this that bothered him.
Once one piece of the puzzle fell into place, other memories started to click together like a chain reaction.
“When I first came here, the Director wanted to take both Joo Eunchan and Dan Haru as trainees. Among them, Joo Eunchan was definitely useful.”
There was a background to falsely accuse Joo Eunchan of being a parachute recruit.
But what about Dan Haru?
Why did the Director want to take Dan Haru out of all the many trainees?
Dan Haru, who had joined so recently and hadn’t proven himself as a trainee yet.
[System Alert: Maybe he saw potential?]
[System Alert: After all, when Dan Haru first joined, he was evaluated as a talent full of potential.]
“It was just the Director’s insight… If you put it that way, I can’t really argue.”
Hajin fell into thought.
There was no definite proof that Dan Haru was the Chosen Regressor.
But once the sense of unease took hold, the suspicion it ignited grew uncontrollably.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? That everything was all because of that damn Sparkling.”
The one who first told him about the Director’s case,
The one who informed him that Seo Taehyun had fought with Cha Minseok at Renes,
The one who created an opportunity for him to talk with Gong Seok after he fought with the A-Team members,
The one who led him to the convenience store where Lee Yugeon was when he disappeared,
And the one who witnessed the incident between Seo Taehyun and Believer at this A Countdown event,
They were all…
“…They were all Dan Haru.”
Dan Haru was involved in every incident.
But the unease Hajin felt didn’t stop there.
“So then, why did I never find this strange until now?”
The basics of **#MysteryStories** were suspicion and caution.
He had doubted the name Dan Haru, but he had never questioned Haru’s actions.
“Me? Kang Hajin? I missed this?”
The same me who, as a kid, used to save my small allowance to buy the complete Sherlock Holmes collection, and read so many detective comics that I was careful around coat hangers for a while?
[System Alert: Ha, our genre’s regressor is an otaku…]
Shut up, you punk.
Hajin abruptly closed Thirteen’s system window as if hitting Alt+F4.
In the meantime, his memories rewound again.
-My grandmother used to say, when you’re too scared from overthinking, just stop thinking.
Who had said this?
No, after that.
How did I know that the Candy Crush team was practicing during the infinite regression incident?
Certainly, not all iterations had the Candy Crush team practicing at that time.
No, before that.
During all those countless iterations, during all the time I was trying to stop the regression…
“What was Dan Haru doing?”
Countless images of Haru appeared and disappeared in Hajin’s mind.
But in the end, Hajin couldn’t recall any specific memories of Haru.
As if someone had cut them out.
* * *
After dinner, a late-night meeting about the fourth round of the competition continued.
Hajin and three other trainees sat on the practice room floor.
As usual, Siwoo led the conversation.
“I overheard during dinner that Doha’s team has decided to go full hip-hop. I think it was a good choice for us to focus on vocals.”
“Oh, I heard something too. Taehyun hyung’s team is doing ‘Deep into You.’ It looks like they’re focusing on dance.”
“Really? Then that’s even better.”
“Right, seems like we made the right choice.”
Siwoo and Seok nodded in agreement to Haru’s comment.
It wasn’t intentional, but each team had naturally focused on rap, dance, or vocals.
“This means we have to win solely with our voices, so song selection is the most important for this stage. Let’s review the songs we shortlisted earlier.”
Jung Siwoo’s way of leading the meeting was clean and concise.
Earlier, Haru and Gong Seok couldn’t control their emotions properly, but now they were trying their best to focus and come up with ideas.
Siwoo logged into iTube using the tablet PC provided by the production team and started playing the candidate songs one by one.
“Um, I think this song is a bit difficult.”
“This one feels a bit tricky to arrange into an acoustic version, so I’ll pass too.”
“Oh… then, how about this song? I found it while we were eating…”
Gong Seok, fumbling nervously, searched for the song he had found.
He seemed more tense than usual, making typos repeatedly as if his shoulders were full of tension.
Watching Seok struggle to find a song and sweating profusely, Siwoo gently patted Seok’s shoulder.
“Seok, it’s okay to take your time. We’re not in a huge rush right now.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Ah, my hands keep slipping…”
Seok forced an awkward smile as he finally managed to find and play a song.
It was an OST from a recently concluded campus romance drama, with lyrics that conveyed the worries of wandering youth.
“If we’re going for a lyrical vibe anyway, I thought we could at least include some meaningful lyrics…”
Siwoo listened quietly to the song, lost in thought.
His gaze moved from the song’s lyrics on the tablet screen to Seok, who was clasping his hands together nervously as if he were a criminal.
Siwoo’s lips quivered slightly, as if he was contemplating whether to say something or not, but in the end, he remained silent.
It was only after Seok’s chosen song finished playing that Siwoo spoke again.
“…The song is good, but I’m concerned that it’s too quiet and dark for a competition. There aren’t many variations, so there’s not much room for arranging.”
“Oh, really? Haha, I guess I was too focused on my taste. Sorry.”
Upon hearing Siwoo’s assessment, Seok’s shoulders slumped down again. As Seok hurriedly added an apology, Siwoo’s eyebrow twitched slightly. While Siwoo quickly adjusted his expression, Haru, noticing the gloomy atmosphere, deliberately spoke in a more upbeat tone.
“Hyung, how about we arrange the harmonies to be more dynamic? Since the melody is simple, if we add an a cappella-like arrangement, it might give it a different feel.”
“Well, that’s not a bad idea, but… the theme is still a bit depressing, so it feels risky.”
“Uh, um, then…”
“Oh, Haru, it’s okay if we don’t do this song… really. We can just find another one.”
Seok, realizing that Haru was trying so hard to help because of him, waved his hands, indicating that it was fine.
However, Haru, noticing the shadow on Seok’s face and the slightly uncomfortable expression on Siwoo’s face, racked his brain for a way to lighten the mood.
“Th-Then… Hajin hyung!?”
“…Huh?”
Haru, scanning his surroundings quickly, finally grabbed onto his lifeline.
Like a baby bunny warrior who had found an unmissable, precious carrot, Haru clung to Hajin’s arm with bright, twinkling eyes.
“Hyung, what do you think about this song? Or do you have any other suggestions…?”
Faced with Sparkling’s desperate SOS to somehow fix this grim atmosphere, the man in crisis, Kang Hajin, looked around in bewilderment. Including his team members, even the camera director and the PD, who were watching from afar, were all waiting for his response.
Under the heavy spotlight, the man in crisis, Kang Hajin, thought to himself.
‘Damn, I’m screwed. I didn’t listen to any of this.’
Because he had been distracted trying to figure out who the Chosen Regressor was, something
must have happened in the meantime.
Hajin, after thinking for a moment, looked down at Haru, who was still clinging to his arm.
“Aack! Hyung! Why are you doing this!?”
“Your cheeks are so round and chubby, I just felt like pinching them.”
“Ouch! That hurts!”
And then he pinched Haru’s cheeks without warning.
‘Because of this Sparkling brat, I couldn’t concentrate… He just had to look so harmless that I can’t even get mad.’
[System Alert: …? But you’re pinching his cheeks?]
‘Do you want me to pinch you too?’
[System Alert: No.]
[System Alert: (Alt+F4)]
Fearing that this crazy guy might actually pinch the system window, Thirteen quickly closed the system window.
Meanwhile, Hajin finally let go of Haru’s cheeks and began to seriously assess the atmosphere in the practice room.
“Hmm, my opinion…”
Ignoring the whimpering of Sparkling, who had suddenly become a prime suspect.
Siwoo and Seok waited silently for Hajin’s answer.
The problem was that Kang Hajin hadn’t heard a single thing from the meeting so far.
How was he supposed to answer when he didn’t know the question?
Of course, telling Jung Siwoo, who was glaring at him with an icy expression, that he hadn’t been listening would probably get him skinned alive.
‘…Wait? Why does that piss me off?’
Hajin’s mood darkened slightly as he imagined Siwoo’s expression. Somehow, he couldn’t accept that.
“So, what I’m thinking… is… what?”
Come on, brain.
If I don’t come up with an answer that satisfies both of these hyungs, there’s no future for this teamwork…!