Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 113.

It was true.
The recording site for Top of Idol was chaos incarnate.

“Unnie. My eyes aren’t deceiving me, are they?”
“No.”

Kim Geum quietly caught Yeon Ju-hong’s hand as she tried to poke her own eyes out.
And for good reason.
Twenty paces away, Kim Ryeo-yu stood in the studio.
Right in the middle of it.
Sitting in the panelist’s chair.
Which meant Kim Ryeo-yu was an official cast member of Top of Idol.

“Wait. Why is she here? She hasn’t even debuted yet?”

Since there had been no hint of this during the pre-production meeting, all the cast members looked shocked.

“This is so frustrating. So incredibly frustrating. What is this? Like a mosquito—constantly popping up out of nowhere.”
“Don’t insult mosquitoes.”

The three younger members couldn’t close their mouths at Kim Ryeo-yu’s appearance.
But the two older members had anticipated this to some degree, so they said nothing.

***

“Yun Chung.”
“Yes?”
“The survival show we’re filming tomorrow. Ryeo-yu will be appearing in that too.”

Early yesterday morning.
Seo Baek-young sat on the opposite bed and told me during the hours when everyone else was asleep.

“…Ah.”
“You knew?”
“I had a rough idea.”
“Really?”
“That notice—whether it was a clarification or an apology—the timing was just too perfect. I figured they’d slip it in somewhere. And since Top of Idol was also an investment from Colors, I thought Director Kim would be the perfect one to do it.”

Cotton Ball Entity hadn’t been the one to tell me.
I hadn’t heard from that thing in ages—no idea what it was up to these days.
Even the pointless notifications it used to send had stopped coming.
But I could figure this much out without Cotton Ball Entity’s alerts.
Maybe it was because I’d encountered so many human scumbags that I’d developed some learning ability.
I could see the patterns of their behavior now, so to speak.

“So what do we do?”
“There’s no way to remove them. We just have to win through pure skill. This is our chance to make it crystal clear that they can never beat us or stand on equal ground with us.”

Seo Baek-young looked at me with worried eyes.

“Are you okay, Yun Chung?”
“Huh?”
“You were the biggest victim in all this. More than anything else, I’m worried about how you’re feeling.”

Honestly, I was fine.
I didn’t really think much about it.
It was more like—there’s just this annoying fly buzzing in front of my face, that kind of feeling.
But if I acted unbothered here, that would look strange in its own way.

“I’m okay. If anything, I’m glad. I feel like this is my chance to finally tie up loose ends and move forward.”
“Yun Chung. You don’t have any obligation to tie up those knots. You can just take it easy—”
“It’s because of Ju-hong.”
“!”

Seo Baek-young’s eyes widened with surprise first, then narrowed with concern, and finally sank into sadness.

“Ju-hong keeps watching everyone’s reactions because she still thinks she got in as the sixth-place member through luck. That thought—that she didn’t earn her spot fairly—it’s been holding her back all this time. Sometimes she even watches the other members’ faces.”
“Her self-esteem does seem to have gotten really low….”

She wasn’t always like this.
When I first started Make a New Color, what was she like?
Yeon Ju-hong was the slightly eccentric youngest member—eyes wide open, saying everything on her mind.
That was her charm.
But now she was so dispirited that she often couldn’t say what she wanted to say.
In the long run, that could prevent her talent from blossoming.
I needed to resolve this now and move forward.

“There’s no reason for her to feel that way, honestly. The fact that Kim Ryeo-yu got fifth place was only because Oh PD and Director Kim edited every cut to focus on Kim Ryeo-yu. In survival programs, there’s almost no way to beat a trainee they’re determined to push—especially not someone fighting fairly.”
“Right. Because of that… we all suffered.”
“But even if I tell Ju-hong this, it’ll just sound like empty comfort to her right now.”

When someone’s self-worth has been shattered, no matter how much truth you tell them, it sounds like a lie born from pity.
Even though the truth itself was born from love.
Yeon Ju-hong knows she’s being loved, but she doesn’t believe she’s worthy of that love.
I understand that feeling.
I was like that too.
But there’s one thing she doesn’t know.
Love doesn’t suddenly disappear out of nowhere.
She’s being loved because she’s worthy of love.

“So we just need to prove it to her.”
“Prove it….”
“Let’s put undeniable evidence right in front of her that Kim Ryeo-yu is nothing. And if she still doesn’t realize how incredible she is, I’ll make her hand-copy my fan analysis essay twice over—twenty pages each.”

At my words, Seo Baek-young broke into a grin.
What are you looking at?
If I look like someone who’s already prepared a second fan analysis essay, then yes, that’s accurate.
I’m going to give her a real lesson.

“By the way, unnie.”
“Hmm?”
“Where do you keep getting all this information from?”
!

Yeon Ju-hong is one problem.
Seo Baek-young, you’re another issue entirely.
There was another problem I needed to untangle here.

***

“Everyone just keep your distance, and absolutely don’t show any hostile reactions. Control your expressions.”

StillBlue’s Waiting Room.
Fortunately, each team was given their own private waiting room.
I’d been worried they might make us share with another team.

“Is that even possible?!”

Yeon Ju-hong was still fuming as she spoke.

“The moment I saw her, I nearly burst out right there in front of her face!”
“That’s why you just treat her like she doesn’t exist. Not engaging is the best strategy. Don’t be friendly either. Just treat her purely as a business transaction.”
“Business? How do you even do that?”

Kim Geum asked with a serious expression.
Maybe put down that ice cream first before you talk.

“Treat her like you’d treat a male idol.”
“Understood.”

Everyone’s expressions showed they’d grasped it cleanly.

“What’s over there isn’t Kim Ryeo-yu, and it’s not even a person. Just think of it as a human-shaped prop. If you break it, you’d have to pay for it, so you can’t touch it, right? Let’s just treat it with basic courtesy. StillBlue.”
“Yes.”

Since they seemed to understand roughly, I’d leave the nagging at that.

“One more thing.”

Now I had to bring up a topic I’d been hesitant to mention.

“About our MC.”
“Oh, you said we shouldn’t get involved with male idols.”
“It’s not that simple.”

I was genuinely deeply concerned about this.

“Don’t even share the same space with that person, and don’t give them any opportunity to be alone with you. When you need to go somewhere, move in groups of two or three. You can’t act alone.”
“…Unnie, are we meeting a serial killer or something?”
“You basically have to think of it that way.”

That bastard was a girl group serial killer, in other words.
I’d wondered how Hi-Hi-Ho’s Pia got tangled up with him, but seeing Pia listed as a contestant on 【Top of Idol】 explained everything.
Shin Yu-hwa had met both Pia and Jo Hee-on simultaneously here.
I looked around at my members.
He’d know he couldn’t touch the three minors.
Even if he tried media play with minors, it would only make him look like trash anyway.
He might be able to poke at them a little, but he wouldn’t go too far.
Then the real danger would be—

“Baek-young unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“You especially need to be twice as careful.”
“Me? Why?”
“It’s your sin for being too beautiful.”
“W-what? All of a sudden?”

Seo Baek-young, you’re just too kind and too beautiful.
Those who know Seo Baek-young would recognize that those clear eyes held a glint of madness.
But to those who didn’t know her, she’d just look like someone shimmering with radiance.

“Wait a second, Yun Chung.”

Yeon Ju-hong’s eyes narrowed.
Hot.
Did I just say something suspicious?

“But why do you think you’re safe?!”
“?”
“Right. The three of us are minors, so that’s one thing. But like Ju-hong said, you’re in danger too?”
“Huh?”

My members surrounded me and slowly closed in, tightening the noose.

“This won’t do. I’m forming a guard unit now.”
“…What guard unit?”
“Ju-hong, Ju-hong!”
“Geum, Geum!”

After Yeon Ju-hong and Kim Geum shouted their own names, they stared intently at Ryu Bora.

“…B… Bora, Bora….”
“Cross!”
“We are the Yun Chung and Baek-young Guardian Corps!”

I couldn’t take this anymore.
Just kill me instead.
Suddenly, I felt just how young my teammates were compared to me….

***

After that, Kim Geum and Yeon Ju-hong followed me and Seo Baek-young around with fire in their eyes, insisting they had to protect us.
Eventually, I took Yeon Ju-hong with me and stepped outside to visit the Convenience Store within the Broadcasting Station for a moment.
I was there to buy sandwiches for the members.
That’s when.

“Yun Chung!”

I heard a voice calling me from behind.
Who was that?

“It’s been forever, seriously. I’m so happy to see you!”

A face both familiar and unfamiliar.
I sifted through Yun Chung’s memories before it finally came to me.
She was one of the members of Hi-Hi-Ho.
Her name was… Rumi, wasn’t it?
Hi-Hi-Ho had a total of four members.
Visual and center member Pia.
Main vocalist Rumi.
Main rapper Nari.
Sub-vocalist Jin-a.
This one was Rumi, the main vocalist among them.
The title of “main vocalist” in Hi-Hi-Ho actually explained a great deal.
Originally, Yun Chung was supposed to be Hi-Hi-Ho’s main vocalist.
Which meant this girl was the one who pushed her out.

“What’s wrong, Yun Chung? Don’t you seem happy to see me?”

Of course I wasn’t happy to see her.
She was one of the people involved in the allergy incident.
Actually, not long ago.
I had sent a message to Jo Hee-on.

Jo Hee-on

Hey
Why…

Who said what during the allergy thing?

It was because the public casting group list for 【Top of Idol】 had been released.
I didn’t have much interest in Hi-Hi-Ho, to be honest.
I knew they were selling my information around, but they were small-time enough that I didn’t have time to worry about them.
But if we were appearing on the same program, that was a different story.

Jo Hee-on

Ah…

Well… Seo Rang is a civilian now.

Really?

But I was never close with that senior.

How did she know I have an allergy?
She said she heard it from someone else.

You know, right?

About Hi-Hi-Ho’s…

I ended up getting caught in the crossfire while she was gossiping about me behind my back.
Of course, Rumi didn’t intentionally spread the word about my allergy to torment me.
She probably just thoughtlessly talked behind my back, and things ended up this way.
Still, it didn’t sit well with me.

“Ah, yes. Hello. It’s been a while. You’ve been well, I hope?”

I gave a perfunctory response and tried to leave.
She had let it go, but I had no intention of letting it go.
Besides, she was my senior, so I didn’t want to invite any trouble.

“Hey.”

But Rumi didn’t seem willing to let me go.

“Look at you, all high and mighty now, with that vacant stare. Your attitude really has gotten worse. You’ve grown up a lot, haven’t you, Yun Chung?”

I was trying to handle it diplomatically and move on.
But if she was going to come at me like this from the start, I couldn’t just—

“Wow. Who are you?!”
“?!”

Huh?

“The fact that our Yun Chung knows you… Are you staff?! Were you staff at Make a New Color?!”
“…What?”

Pia’s eyes, which had been brimming with sarcasm, were now on the verge of flipping entirely into fury.
I simply stood there with my mouth hanging open, seeing Yeon Ju-hong after so long.
That’s right….

“So. Who are you to tell our unnie she has no manners? I have a different opinion on who’s actually the one without manners here.”

She was a thug too….

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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