Grab the Regressor by the Collar and Debut!

Chapter 81. Bomb! (3)

Han Sung-woo couldn’t remember much of what happened after that.

“…So, I’m trying to quietly wrap things up by having you leave the company.”

Exit from the program.

Viewer vote manipulation.

Termination of trainee contracts.

Warnings about penalties and damages.

Every word that came out of Ji Suho’s mouth was familiar yet terrifying.

He had always harbored a lingering fear that he might get caught someday….

But not now. At least not like this.

Feeling the alarms blaring in his head and his heart pounding rapidly, Han Sung-woo denied the reality.

“I-I don’t know anything about this.”

“…….”

“I don’t know anything about this, Team Leader. Please believe me!”

However, the response was cold.

“We’ve already received a full confession from CP Yoon Kisuk, and he agreed to disciplinary action from the broadcasting station in exchange for covering this up.”

CP Yoon confessed everything? After all he’s received from us?

As soon as Han Sung-woo heard those words, he felt his blood run cold and clenched his trembling fists in anger. His jaw hurt from how hard he was gritting his teeth.

Watching him, Ji Suho quietly delivered the final verdict.

“You know this is a crime, right?”

“…….”

“If we wanted to blow this up, we could make it as big as we want. Wrapping it up like this isn’t for your sake, Sung-woo.”

“…….”

“I want you to remember that it’s because I don’t want to waste the efforts of the other kids who are sweating and practicing hard right now.”

Then he quietly handed over several documents prepared by the legal team.

They were legally binding papers, including a non-disclosure agreement, just in case.

“I didn’t tell your parents. After all, you’re an adult now.”

“N-No! My father….”

Ji Suho looked at Han Sung-woo, who was trembling and had a dumbfounded expression, and sighed softly.

Then, with the last bit of sincerity he could muster, he gave Han Sung-woo the only advice he could offer.

“Why did you do it, Sung-woo?”

“…….”

“Why on earth did you make this choice? We should have believed in you more.”

“…….”

“We should have believed in your effort, in your earnestness. No matter how competitive this industry is, where you survive by stepping over others, what you did wasn’t competition. It was illegal and deceitful.”

“…….”

“Read through these slowly, think it over, and if you decide to sign, then sign. But whether you sign or not, the exit from the program and the termination of your trainee contract will still be valid.”

With those firm words, Ji Suho left Han Sung-woo alone in the small meeting room.

‘What is this… what is this.’

Han Sung-woo was left alone again.

When he lowered his head, the water droplets from his still wet hair formed a small puddle on the table.

‘What is this, what is this. What is this!’

His life and dreams, which had been thrown away overnight, felt empty.

He resented his father for not pushing him harder until this point,

and he hated CP Yoon, who not only got caught but also dragged him into this mess, despite all he had received.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

Han Sung-woo clutched his head, trying to figure out the cause of this situation.

Among everything he blamed and resented, there was no room for self-reflection.

When Han Sung-woo finished signing the contracts with his trembling hands,

he was already halfway to losing his sanity due to self-justification and anger about the situation.

After some time, Ji Suho returned with his characteristic calm expression.

“…Did you finish?”

“…….”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to clear out your things immediately. If it’s too much to carry all at once, let us know.”

A clear order to leave.

Having never experienced such cold treatment before, Han Sung-woo bit his lip and asked.

“…Do the others know?”

There was no trace of remorse or guilt in his voice.

Suho replied with a slight scoff.

“No. Only a very few in the company know about this.”

“…….”

“But you never know. The company is small, and rumors spread fast.”

“…….”

“Thanks for your efforts. Take care.”

It was only then that Han Sung-woo realized he was crying.

His entire body was wet and uncomfortable, but he knew that his discomfort wasn’t just because of the rain. He also knew exactly what caused it.

Han Sung-woo slowly stood up.

It was time to leave.

* * *

Of course, no one saw Han Sung-woo off when he left Miro.

‘If it weren’t for me, those guys would have been nothing….’

Han Sung-woo stubbornly packed his belongings, grinding his teeth to the end. Fortunately, most of the trainees seemed to have gone up to the practice room on the third floor, so he didn’t run into many people in the basement.

“Hey, are you leaving now?”

However, among the few remaining in the basement, seeing the one person he didn’t want to face, Han Sung-woo finally snapped.

“You, you bastard!”

“Whoa, easy there, you’re gonna kill someone!”

With a loud crash, the belongings Sung-woo had been holding fell and scattered across the floor.

But he didn’t care. He rushed at Hajin, who was grinning and mocking him in the basement hallway.

Grabbing Hajin, who was a head taller than him, by the collar, he slammed him against the wall with all his strength.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You ratted me out, didn’t you?”

“What? What are you talking about, hyung?”

“Shut up! It was you! You’re the only one who knew about me and PD Yoon. You ratted me out, didn’t you, you bastard!”

Feeling cornered, Han Sung-woo lost his temper and raged uncontrollably. Not wanting to admit his own faults, he started blaming Hajin for everything that had happened.

“Hyung, you seem really agitated. Let’s calm down first….”

“I never liked you. Acting like you’re something special, huh? You were always so annoying. I’m going to crush you when I get out of here. Got it?!”

“Okay, okay, but let go of me first, Sung-woo hyung. You can’t just grab someone’s collar like this….”

“Do you know who my father is? This isn’t the only agency out there. I can debut somewhere else. Do you think there aren’t other fools who will debut me if I pay them?”

“…….”

“Damn it, I should have never come here. You arrogant bastards, hiding behind me and playing your rank games…. If it weren’t for my father, damn it, I….”

“Hyung, please, just let go and let’s talk….”

Whether he realized it or not, the grip on Hajin’s collar tightened.

As Hajin’s breathing became more strained, he looked slightly scared, holding onto Sung-woo’s wrist, but soon―,

“―I said, let go and let’s talk.”

With a calm face and a clear voice, Hajin easily removed Han Sung-woo’s hand.

“…What, what?”

This time, Han Sung-woo looked at Hajin as if he had seen a ghost.

With a look of disdain, mockery, and pity, Hajin looked down at Han Sung-woo, pushing his wrist away with overwhelming strength. Sung-woo stumbled back a few steps.

“Wow, really. Such lack of manners.”

Hajin, as if nothing had happened, casually straightened his collar and took out his phone from his pocket. Turning it around, he showed the screen to Han Sung-woo, revealing the active recording function with the time stamp.

Seeing Han Sung-woo still not fully grasping the situation, Hajin pressed the stop button on the recording.

“You know, hyung, people are so predictable. It’s almost like I can see their next steps.”

“…You, you!”

“If you keep saying ‘you, you’, this recording might accidentally get uploaded to the internet. Don’t you get it?”

“……!”

A recording?

Thinking about what would happen if that got out on the internet, Han Sung-woo’s face turned ashen. If any of his words about his father were revealed, it would not only ruin him but also impact his father and his company.

‘They’ve already been lenient so many times, I can’t let that happen!’

He lunged to grab the phone, but Hajin easily avoided him, proving that the earlier collar grab was just a pretense, and put the phone back in his rear pocket.

“What should we do, hyung? Last time, there was no evidence, but now there is.”

“Why, why are you doing this to me? I haven’t done anything bad to you, so why! What grudge do you have against me?”

Despite the almost retaliatory shout, Hajin didn’t even blink. He smirked, lazily twisting one corner of his mouth and shrugging in disbelief.

“You didn’t have a reason either, did you? When you bullied Joo Eunchan with the others.”

“……!”

Ever heard of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes?

Han Sung-woo heard Hajin’s annoying voice, but he couldn’t respond.

“Listen carefully, hyung. This is how you do a threat. I might not be able to debut, but you have a lot to lose, don’t you?”

“…….”

“Do something stupid, and it’ll all blow up. So, get it together and leave. Let’s not see each other again.”

Then, with a sneering expression, Hajin passed by Han Sung-woo.

As if he didn’t even need to talk to him anymore.

As if he

didn’t care whether he sank or swam.

“…….”

Only then did Han Sung-woo’s head cool down, realizing the full extent of his situation.

An unbearable fear and a sense of helplessness washed over him. He felt nauseous. Realizing everything, he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“Damn it, this, this crazy….”

Like he was being chased, Han Sung-woo hurriedly gathered his belongings.

Just minutes ago, he had thrown his stuff in a rage, and now he was hastily picking them up, afraid someone might see him. He quickly exited the basement, taking the emergency stairs instead of the elevator to avoid running into anyone.

“Damn it, I… these bastards, I… how dare they…!”

With his mind completely shattered, Han Sung-woo reached the exit. A small notebook slipped from his arms and fell to the ground. It was his practice notebook that he used to diligently keep.

As he bent down to pick it up, someone else got to it first, dusting off the dirt and mud before handing it to him.

“…Here you go.”

It was Joo Eunchan, who had picked up the dirty notebook and was offering it to Han Sung-woo.

The same Joo Eunchan he had spread rumors about and ostracized among the trainees.

“Did you come to laugh at me too?”

“…….”

“Go ahead, laugh. Mock me, damn it!”

In truth, Han Sung-woo envied Joo Eunchan.

Despite being in a similar situation, Joo Eunchan seemed superior in every way.

He felt superior when he suffocated that shining kid, making him unable to move.

And now, with everything completely overturned, Han Sung-woo was sure Joo Eunchan would mock and scorn him.

However, Joo Eunchan’s words were completely opposite to his expectations.

“Why would I mock you?”

“…What?”

“There was a time I wondered if I had done something wrong to you, hyung.”

“…….”

“I thought about it, thought about it, and thought about it again… but there was nothing.”

Han Sung-woo then realized that Joo Eunchan’s eyes held no emotion as he looked at him.

“So now I feel nothing towards you.”

“…….”

“I hope you feel the same way.”

With that, Eunchan placed the notebook on top of Han Sung-woo’s pile of belongings and walked past him, heading in the direction he was originally going.

This meant that Eunchan really hadn’t come to mock or scorn him but had just happened to run into him by chance.

In the end, Han Sung-woo realized he hadn’t left a mark on anything.

He realized that he hadn’t accomplished anything to assert his superiority, even in his delusional victory.

This was the end.

He had achieved nothing, and now, with all his weaknesses exposed, it was over.

“No….”

Han Sung-woo, thus, left Miro.