Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 72. Guess Who? (3)

While Suho was in shock as if he had been hit on the back of the head with a baseball bat.

Hajin had a rather calm expression. Suho felt an inexplicable sense of betrayal, stuttering not just once, but three times.

“Th-then, um, so… that’s… a lie?”

“No, it’s true. Yes, I did go back in time.”

Despite Suho’s stuttering three times, Hajin simply replied. And he did so with a smile.

As Suho, feeling completely played, tried to find words to say, Hajin shrugged and continued speaking.

“But, just because it’s true doesn’t mean you have to believe it, does it?”

Suho, who was about to accuse him of playing around, clamped his mouth shut again.

Hajin clearly wore his usual relaxed smile, but there was a hint of some unknown sadness at the edges of that smile.

It was only after seeing that smile that Suho finally regained his senses and questioned Hajin as if to challenge him.

“Why did you tell me, not knowing whether I’d believe you or not? What if I treated you like a crazy person?”

“Team Leader, you have a lot of questions today.”

“As I said, I need to know. I need to know what kind of person the artist I’m in charge of is.”

Suho was curious about Hajin.

At first, it was just casting to keep the Director in check.

When they came to know each other’s secrets, Suho thought they were now stuck on the same boat.

And after watching Hajin’s performances a few times, a small dream began to take shape within him as a manager.

“A manager’s role is like that. No matter what happens, you have to be on your singer’s side.”

A dream to see this person shine even brighter on a bigger stage.

“I believe in everything you say, Kang Hajin.”

Suho showed a rare, comfortable smile.

To achieve that dream, Suho first needed to gain the complete trust of Kang Hajin as a person.

As Hajin silently stared at him, Suho continued speaking in a calm voice.

“What I’m saying is that I’m on your side, Kang Hajin. So if there’s anything you want to say, you can say it anytime.”

“……”

“To be honest, I feel a bit relieved. Having someone who knows my secret.”

Suho laughed and made a joke.

“I was so shocked when I first saw light coming out of a person’s body.”

“……”

“This is a secret, but in the beginning, I even went for counseling a few times and visited the hospital. In the end, they just told me there was nothing wrong. I seriously thought I’d gone mad.”

“…I know that feeling.”

Hajin, who had been listening to Suho’s words all along, chuckled and nodded.

“I thought I was dying and seeing my life flash before my eyes.”

“When you first went back in time? I can imagine.”

“Just moments before, I was lying in bed, and when I came to my senses, it was exam time in high school. I thought I was dreaming.”

As if recalling that time, Hajin fell into brief thought.

Suho waited for him.

After a few minutes had passed, Hajin, who had been habitually tapping his fingers on the table, spoke again.

“…I was twenty-nine years old.”

“Pardon?”

“When I first regressed. I was an unemployed twenty-nine-year-old, but when I opened my eyes, I was seventeen.”

With that, Hajin began to tell his story, neither too fast nor too slow.

He talked about how he went through four regressions, living his fifth life, and how he ended up where he was now.

Hajin spoke about his life, sometimes concisely, sometimes seriously.

All of his stories were hard to believe, but Suho believed them. In fact, he felt a bit relieved. It seemed he could finally explain the unrealistic abilities he had developed.

“So, the person you said you had to find back then, is that the person?”

“Yes. The one who made me live four times over and made you see those strange colors in people.”

“And that person is one of our company’s trainees….”

“That’s why, if you notice anything suspicious, you must share it with me. I really don’t want to live a sixth life.”

Hajin shook his head and shuddered as if the thought repulsed him. Suho nodded in understanding.

There were still many questions and curiosities about this “regression,” but Suho knew he wouldn’t fully understand even if he heard more today.

“Thank you for telling me.”

After hearing everything, Suho expressed his honest feelings. He felt like he was finally starting to see who Kang Hajin was.

And why he seemed to draw a line between himself and everything.

‘Because one day, everything could suddenly be undone.’

He had thought that being able to relive the past would be an incredible opportunity, but now he realized that wasn’t always the case.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Hajin poured himself some water into the empty cup and spoke again.

“…Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For saying you’re on my side.”

Ah, there was that smile again.

The smile tinged with an indescribable loneliness.

“Talking with you just now, I realized that I might have been lonely.”

“……”

“I’ve lost everything. Friends, dreams, the life I’ve lived, and even memories.”

“……”

“If you ask me whether I want to go back to when I was twenty-nine, I’m not sure…. But when I think about how all those times have been left with only me, it makes me feel, sometimes, a bit sad.”

The mental care system still functioned, so whenever Hajin thought of his past life, it felt like recalling a distant memory.

But that didn’t mean all those memories simply ceased to exist.

“My life was full of mistakes and regrets…. But even in such a life, there seems to be something to miss.”

The day when the whole family went on a trip for the first time.

The friends he met anew in college.

The movies and songs that comforted him on difficult days.

The various episodes and happenings he experienced while working.

All of these things remained only with Hajin.

And sometimes, they made Hajin feel very lonely.

“Maybe that’s why. Why I kept talking about my past life with you.”

“……”

“Maybe I just wanted to tell someone, anyone, that I lived such a life.”

Suho finally understood the reason behind the sadness he saw in Hajin.

He knew that he might never fully understand Hajin, no matter how long he lived.

Or maybe, no one in the world could completely understand Hajin’s loneliness.

‘Except for that Chosen Regressor… But for a normal person, it’s impossible.’

Still, as someone who had lived a little longer, perhaps Suho could offer him some comfort.

Suho carefully spoke up.

“People are funny that way.”

“……?”

“It’s only after getting seriously burned that you realize, ‘Ah, this hurts. I shouldn’t touch this.’ And after that, even when you see something similar, you instinctively hold back because you don’t want to get hurt.”

Suho had never lived the past again like Hajin, but he was someone who had been burned by the world and by people.

He knew well how those who were hurt would tear themselves apart and cut themselves off.

“And yet. And yet, after some time passes…. There comes a moment, just once. ‘Maybe this much is okay? Maybe I can tolerate this much warmth?'”

“……”

“When that moment comes, you just try. You hold on and see. Will it hurt if I keep holding on, or won’t it? ‘Ah, maybe this much is okay. Maybe I can bear this.’ That’s how you learn your limits.”

Hajin looked bewildered at Suho’s words, as if he were grasping at clouds. But Suho continued speaking without concern.

“Everyone feels lonely, right? A world without warmth, it’s tough.”

“…You’re not telling me to burn myself on the stove, are you?”

“I’m telling you not to be too afraid of the hand that’s reaching out.”

“……”

“I hope you won’t look at the moments of life too coldly. You’re a passionate person, Kang Hajin. You’ve got enthusiasm, you like people, …and you love being on stage.”

Only when Suho saw Hajin’s pupils quiver slightly did he seem to grasp the meaning of Suho’s words. Suho looked at him, offering the warmest comfort he could muster.

“Isn’t it better to love without regrets than to turn away from it all because you think it might disappear one day? You said you don’t want to live a sixth life.”

“……”

“You’ve got someone to talk to now, don’t you? If you want to talk about your past life, talk to me. But I hope you’ll remember that the life you’re living right now is still your life, Kang Hajin.”

“……”

“And if we really do find that person and the regression ends, then these times will become your memories, experiences, and memories, won’t they?”

This is advice from someone who cares about you.

Suho finished speaking and fell silent. Hajin seemed to be reflecting on Suho’s words.

Suho waited patiently during that time.

Hajin probably didn’t even realize how deeply he had been hurt.

It would take a long time for him to recognize that, to recover, and to heal his wounds in the cold water.

‘Taeil has a good instinct.’

Suho remembered what Taeil had once said about Hajin.

– Where did he say he worked

before?

– Oh. It was such a new company that it seems to have just disappeared.

-…Did he get burned badly there?

– Why?

– He grew up too fast. He thinks too much for a twenty-year-old. At that age, there should be some things he doesn’t need to know.

Without even knowing that Hajin had regressed, Taeil had assessed him that way.

‘As expected, you can’t ignore thirteen years of experience in the industry.’

While Suho was resolving not to discuss Hajin’s story too carelessly in front of Taeil, Hajin seemed to have sorted out his thoughts. Suho felt relieved as he noticed the slight lifting of the shadows from Hajin’s expression.

“Did it help?”

“…Yeah, somewhat.”

“I’m glad.”

As Hajin nodded, there was a timely knock on the door. When Suho signaled for them to come in, a waiter cautiously entered the room, pushing a grand tray.

“I’ll prepare your meal.”

Delicious-looking dishes were served one by one on the table. As the table was filled with the bountiful Korean cuisine, Hajin, who had seemingly cast away the earlier shadows, grabbed his chopsticks with sparkling eyes.

Seeing this, Suho felt a slight sense of reality hit him.

“It… just me, or does it seem like all your trauma was healed the moment you saw the food?”

“You’re imagining it.”

“It doesn’t seem like imagination.”

“The earlier conversation sufficiently soothed my spirit, and now with this delicious meal satisfying my body, I’m deeply grateful.”

Judging by how the words flowed out of him, this was the usual Hajin.

Suho, unable to resist, shook his head with a smile at Hajin’s smooth-talking.

There was no way to win against that glib tongue.

“Honestly, confess, you used to sell snake oil in your past life, didn’t you?”

“Want me to be really honest? You probably wouldn’t handle it.”

“…Aren’t you going a bit far since I can’t check?”

“Well, it’s a good thing I sold it. If I’d sniffed it instead, idol debut would’ve been out of the question.”

“…Did you really sell it?”

“Do you think I did? I’ve only ever taken cold medicine, so let’s just eat.”

Hajin let out a hearty laugh as he saw Suho genuinely relieved by his answer. With that laughter, a more comfortable atmosphere settled between them.

Since the regression began, this was the first time Hajin had fully opened his heart to someone.