Yeah it was heavily implied. But i guess a lot of people aren't used with this kind of plot. Maybe this is why they didn't catch the clues
Sunbae's regression and Hohyun's death was evident, but I don't think Hohyun's connection to time looping was given before.
After reading many time looping stories so it's pretty easy to make this type of connections. I think the biggest hint was the behavior of the black haired guy, which felt very odd if you don't connect Hohyun's death to time-looping
You can also explain that by him not wanting to let Hohyun die for himself, not connecting it to a larger cause. Not everyone is as intelligent as you, so forgive us
Sorry I didn't realize how arrogant my replies sounded
Wasn't it alrd implied from the beginning that hohyun is the restart trigger, and sunbae is regressing several times... Like... It's in the dialogue? Why everyone got surprise? /Gen