Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 120

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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 120.

The rival voting rankings and scores for the other teams were as follows.

2nd Place: Cha-yul (40 points)
-Best Team Votes: 2
-Worst Team Votes: 0
Tied 3rd Place: Max Burning, Sugar Dream (30 points)
-Best Team Votes: 0
-Worst Team Votes: 0
5th Place: Kim Ryeo-yu (10 points)
-Best Team Votes: 0
-Worst Team Votes: 1
6th Place: Hi-Hi-Ho (0 points)
-Best Team Votes: 0
-Worst Team Votes: 5

And so, the final rankings combining the public pre-voting were as follows.

Tied 1st Place
StillBlue, Cha-yul (90 points)
StillBlue: Pre-voting (40 points) + Rival voting (50 points) = 90 points
Cha-yul: Pre-voting (50 points) + Rival voting (40 points) = 90 points
3rd Place
Max Burning
Pre-voting (30 points) + Rival voting (30 points) = 60 points
4th Place
Sugar Dream
Pre-voting (20 points) + Rival voting (30 points) = 50 points
5th Place
Kim Ryeo-yu
Pre-voting (10 points) + Rival voting (10 points) = 20 points
6th Place
Hi-Hi-Ho
Pre-voting (0 points) + Rival voting (0 points) = 0 points

And so Hi-Hi-Ho was officially eliminated with a total score of zero points.
The people here were truly ruthless—no one cast a sympathy vote.
Though that was only natural.
Oh.
Who did we give our Best vote to, you ask?
Of course it was Cha-yul.
We gave our Worst vote to Hi-Hi-Ho.
Everyone on our team gave a brief comment during the voting interview.

[Yun Chung: The Best team our group selected is~]
[Ju-hong: Cha-yul!]
[Bora: The Worst team is… we’re really sorry, but…]
[Geum: We chose Hi-Hi-Ho.]
[Geum: The stage itself was wonderful, but the arrangement didn’t stand out enough. We felt it was a shame that we couldn’t showcase Hi-Hi-Ho’s unique charm points.]
[Ju-hong: Our seniors are really charming and cool, but it seemed like they didn’t get to show all of that, which was disappointing….]

Those kids really went out of their way to soften the blow.

Production Crew: You’ve become the first team to be eliminated. How do you feel?

[Pia: …We’re very disappointed, but… it was because our skills weren’t sufficient.]
[Rumi: ….]

Caption: Rumi’s tears finally show

[Rumi: I really wanted to show a good performance on stage… I feel like I’ve let everyone down…]
[Rumi: Still, I’m grateful for this precious opportunity.]

And so Hi-Hi-Ho was eliminated without even stirring up much controversy.

“….”

Ding!
As filming wrapped up and we were preparing to leave.
A message arrived while I sat quietly in the Waiting Room.

Hong Yeon-seo

I heard Hi-Hi-Ho got eliminated today

Are you satisfied?

That’s unexpected.
I didn’t know you’d pay attention to such details, Hong President.

Hong Yeon-seo, the president.

Thank you for your help.

That’s right.
In truth, Hi-Hi-Ho’s rapid elimination wasn’t entirely without my influence.
How did that happen, you ask?
It all started from a conversation with Seo Baek-young not long ago.

***

“And then I came to a conclusion.”

Seo Baek-young looked at me as she spoke.

“How you could have changed so much.”

To be honest, I was just as nervous as when they announced the Make a New Color rankings.
I couldn’t even begin to guess what answer would come.

“…What conclusion is that?”

After all, from someone so upright, answers often come that you could never imagine.

“Since we couldn’t protect you… it seems you decided to protect yourself instead.”

Hmm.
It was truly an answer I never expected.

“I’ve reflected on it so much. There was a time when I kept my distance from you, brief as it was. There were moments when I hoped we wouldn’t end up on the same team.”

I didn’t answer.
It was a difficult question.
Truthfully, even if I had been in her position and been told to debut with the real Yun Chung, I probably would have hesitated too.
Her stage presence was that serious….
It happened because of harassment from her former agency and Kim Ryeo-yu, but how would the other trainees have known that?
Seo Baek-young had no idea about those circumstances either.
Looking purely at skill, it was understandable not to want to debut together.

“But thinking about it now, I should have at least asked you why back then. Why you’d freeze up with tension at every monthly evaluation. Why you’d always mess up so badly in actual performances…. You must have had your reasons.”

Seo Baek-young looked at me with a sincere, apologetic expression, fidgeting slightly.
Suddenly I wondered what Yun Chung’s heart felt like watching all of this.
Would you find some comfort hearing this apology?
Judging by the fact that you sent me a separate mission not long ago, it seems you’re still watching over me.
Has your heart gotten any better at all?
I couldn’t know.
Because I was Baek Nok-ha, not Yun Chung.
So in the end, I answered in Baek Nok-ha’s way.

“You didn’t know either, unnie.”

I’m not sure if this was right.
If it was wrong, I hoped Yun Chung would tell me.

“Things we didn’t know, things we did clumsily…. We can fix them little by little. I’ve made mistakes because I’m clumsy and didn’t know better too. And that’s true for you as well, unnie.”

But seeing that no notification came through, it probably meant that Yun Chung’s heart and mine were aligned.

“Thank you for apologizing. That’s enough for me.”

And so Seo Baek-young offered a few more words of apology, and I told her it was fine.
…Yun Chung.
I hope this apology brought some comfort to your heart.
Or—

“But unnie. That means you’re in contact with Hong President right now.”

I hope the revenge I’m about to enact brings comfort to your heart.

“That’s right? But why?”
“There are a few things I’d like to ask regarding this Top of Idol. I was wondering if it might be possible.”
“Hmm….”
“I think from Hong President’s perspective, it would be a proposal with no real reason to refuse.”

Seo Baek-young’s gaze visibly wavered.
She probably had no idea what I was after.

“It’s nothing major. Just a very small request, really.”

Yes.
Probably very small indeed.

***

I had no idea what Seo Baek-young told Hong President.
But judging by how quickly the message came through, she must have presented it as persuasively as possible.

Hong Yeon-seo President

What is it you want?

Oh, it’s nothing major.

Hong Yeon-seo President

President,

For this survival mission song, please allow only ‘member self-arrangement’ or ‘arrangement by the program-designated arranger’.

Not long after, a reply came from Hong Yeon-seo.

Hong Yeon-seo President

010-XXXX-XXXX

I had the arrangement outsourcing locked down to this company.

If there’s anything else you need, pass it through my secretary.

It’s too risky if you deliver it directly.

Of course, that goes without saying.
Still, I could feel that Hong Yeon-seo was taking care of us in her own way.
It was probably because Seo Baek-young had demonstrated her trustworthiness all this time.
It also meant we had utility value—the ability to manipulate Director Kim.
I intended to exploit that advantage thoroughly going forward.
I made one additional request to Hong Yeon-seo’s secretary.

‘For Hi-Hi-Ho’s mission song arrangement, keep it as close to the original as possible, but make it subtle enough not to be obvious.’

The closer the arrangement stayed to the original.
The more it became purely a battle of skill.
Hi-Hi-Ho hadn’t competed on skill alone during the debut team selection process.
I wanted to show them just how catastrophic that blunder had been.
That malice unsupported by genuine talent never lasts.

***

And so Hi-Hi-Ho was swiftly eliminated.
Of course, they didn’t go down without a word.

“….”

Just before leaving Top of Idol.
I ran into Hi-Hi-Ho coming out of the Waiting Room.
The moment our eyes met, Pia looked away, while Rumi glared at me openly.
The other two members just watched nervously between us.
All four of them had puffy eyes—they must have cried their hearts out in the Waiting Room.
The truth is, none of those four had a shred of conscience.
They were the ones who had tormented Yun Chung together and forced Hi-Hi-Ho’s debut team to withdraw.
You know the saying—if you make tears flow from another’s eyes, blood tears will flow from your own.

“Goodbye, senior.”

I bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
How could I not show respect to someone leaving?
Soon enough, the community forums would probably fill with posts like “Idol who bombed out of survival,” or “Idol who flopped her live performance.”

“…Yun Chung.”

Just as I was about to leave after my bow, Rumi called out to me.

“Yes, senior?”
“You really went all the way to the end…!”

Rumi’s eyes widened sharply, but she caught herself, conscious of the people around us.
After confirming that no one else was nearby, she opened her mouth again.

“Are you still holding a grudge about what we did?”
“Pardon?”
“Otherwise, why are you acting so strangely?”

Strangely? That’s rich.
I’ve been as respectful as possible given what you all did.

“Which incident are you referring to, senior?”

I had to suppress a bitter laugh, but I couldn’t hold it back.

“Draining someone dry until they were forced out of the debut lineup? Or spreading malicious rumors even after debut?”
“…!”

Rumi’s mouth fell open.

“On Make a New Color, Hee-on mentioned that a former trainee from her previous agency was spreading rumors about me. Did you see that? Everyone was curious about who it was.”
“You… do you have proof that it was us?”
“At least there seems to be a witness.”

At the word “witness,” Rumi’s mouth closed again.

“There must be plenty of things you could be concerned about… but I’m not sure which one you’re referring to. What exactly are you talking about?”

Rumi’s face flushed crimson, looking ready to burst.

“Yun Chung.”

Then Pia, who had been silently watching from beside me, opened her mouth.

“You’ve been holding a lot in, haven’t you?”
“No, not at all.”

I have nothing bottled up inside me.
Yun Chung might, though.
I stepped closer to Rumi and Pia, whispering directly into their ears.
Loud enough for the four members of Hi-Hi-Ho to hear, but quiet enough that no one else could.

“What could I possibly have to hold in? If anyone has something to let out, wouldn’t it be those of you who are being eliminated? You won’t have the chance to do it anymore, so you might as well say everything now.”

I made my best effort to smile warmly.
Honestly, it wasn’t easy.

“Since you won’t be coming to the Broadcasting Station for a while, please tell me everything. I’ll listen carefully.”

At my words, the faces of all four members of Hi-Hi-Ho crumpled.
Well.
I simply looked at each of them one by one.
You lot lack both character and talent, so you failed.
That’s why you won’t be coming to the Broadcasting Station much.
But we’re not like that.

“If there’s nothing more you’d like to say, I’ll be heading out now.”

I said that and pulled away from Rumi.
Then I spoke loudly.

“We have so many schedules tomorrow. I’d really like to get some rest.”

Let me say it one more time.
You all failed.
But we didn’t.

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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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