Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 137

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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 137.

“I’m not crying.”

The denial came out instantly.
But her voice was oddly strained.

“But your eyes are swollen….”
“Tears didn’t fall—they just accumulated. Therefore. Absolutely. This cannot be defined as crying. That’s what I believe.”
“….”

What am I supposed to do with this stubborn girl?
Anyway, I decided to let the fact that Kim Geum had cried slide.
People cry sometimes in life.
Even I, back when I was Baek Nok-ha, spent nearly half my first year as a rookie in tears.
Crying happens.
People can cry over trivial things.
My heart fluttered for a moment, but I resolved to stay composed.

“Can we talk for a bit?”
“…Yes.”

Kim Geum suddenly sprawled out on the floor.
Hmm.
How should I interpret this?
Does she have a habit of lying flat on the floor when she’s upset?
Not knowing what else to do, I lay down beside her.

“Are you upset because you didn’t win today?”
“I’m not upset about not winning. I’ve never been obsessed with first place anyway.”
“…Really?”

I thought she was obsessed with it. Maybe not.

“Even back at Make a New Color, I wasn’t really interested in first place itself. Of course, I said my goal was to rank first, but rankings weren’t that important. I just wanted to debut.”

I see.
Now that I think about it, that does seem to be the case.
We all focused on debuting together, but no one ever said I had to be first place.
It was me who became obsessed with first place.
I had to succeed at the mission.
The moment I realized that, I understood just how much I’d been running forward with blinders on.
In my head, I kept telling myself I needed to look after the members more, care for them more, but….
The truth was, I’d only been chasing the mission.

“Then what was bothering you?”
“Just… since we placed second with the lyrics I wrote…. I don’t necessarily need to be first place myself…. But I think the members wanted to be first.”

Kim Geum’s face looked dejected for the very first time.

“Everyone just now… they held it together, but I saw tears in their eyes.”

That was almost a shock to me.
What shocked me even more was that we were the only thing in the world that could make Kim Geum look like that.
Feeling down because she worried we might be disappointed.

“Geum.”

This girl…

“Are you an idiot?”

She clearly understands us just as little as I understand myself.

“Ouch. That’s a personal attack, Yun Chung?”
“It’s a personal attack only I’m allowed to make.”

Kim Geum let out a soft laugh.

“Yun Chung will probably tell me it’s not because of that song. You’ll say it’s because we’re still rookies who haven’t even been debuted for two months yet. But I just… can’t shake the feeling that it’s because of me.”

I see.
I listened to Kim Geum’s words while feeling the warmth of the heated floor beneath me.
The boiler in our Dormitory works well.

“No. We didn’t place first because we haven’t been debuting long enough.”
“!”

Kim Geum, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, finally turned her head toward me.

“I don’t like excessive self-blame, but I don’t like that kind of rationalization either. We didn’t place first because we’re only two months into our debut.”
“…Then what?”
“We didn’t place first because.”

I recalled the day I failed my first audition.
The day I fell through at every major entertainment company and came home crying.
Even the moment I was cut from the debut lineup at the small agency I barely got into.

“Simply because we weren’t good enough to place first.”

At first, I thought it was just bad luck.
Then I thought the world simply didn’t recognize me.
But eventually, I had no choice but to accept it.

“Today was Max Burning’s day to win… and we just weren’t that team today.”

I was simply the wrong person for that moment, for that stage.

“Because of my lyrics—”
“But if you ask whether that’s your fault… it’s not.”

I didn’t understand why accepting that was so difficult.
It wasn’t even that significant.

“I think Geum’s lyrics were meaningful to us and to our fans. Some people say that silence brings victory. That idols are professionals and must stay silent and endure. I understand what that means. But if everyone only stays silent, the world won’t change.”

Kim Geum didn’t find her courage just for herself.
She found it for all of us.

“But I hate that my one choice brought disadvantage to the team.”
“Disadvantage? Why would you think of it as a disadvantage? That’s the misunderstanding right there.”

I moved closer to Kim Geum’s head and began massaging it gently.
So much worry in such a small head.

“Because you wrote lyrics with such cathartic honesty, we were able to earn votes not just from our fans, but from the general public too. Sure, there’ll be some hateful comments online, but most people say they felt relieved, that they were grateful you spoke for them.”

Kim Geum closed her eyes and entrusted her head to my hands.
I deliberately applied pressure.
Hoping each worry would shatter beneath my touch.

“And the reason we all held back our tears today… I think it’s because we’re sorry to each other.”

When I was performing solo, it was easier somehow.
But once we became a group, admitting our shortcomings became impossibly difficult.
Because.
It’s easy to acknowledge my own inadequacies.
But acknowledging ‘our’ shortcomings… that’s truly unbearable.

“I bet everyone thinks they’re the reason we didn’t win. Want me to guess what each member is thinking?”
“Um… go ahead.”

Kim Geum’s pupils wavered.
My words were hitting home, weren’t they…?

“Baek-young probably thinks she should have nailed her killing part better. Bora’s thinking she should have put more emotion into it. And Ju-hong? She probably thinks she didn’t do anything right—that she ruined everything single-handedly.”
“That’s… that doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s exactly what we think about you right now.”

I laughed, a hollow sound.

“That thought of yours—that we lost because of your lyrics… from our perspective, that’s the most ridiculous thing you could possibly think. You know why?”
“…Because the lyrics weren’t that bad?”
“Because your lyrics are the reason we even placed second. Without you, we would’ve been third.”
“Come on.”
“I’m serious.”
“Come on… that’s not it. I wish you were the only one thinking that way.”

Really?
She still believed that.
I pushed myself up and opened the door.

“Ico.”
“…Ahem.”
“Wait, how did you know we were here?!!?”

The door kept creaking oddly from before, so I figured something was up.

“What do you all think? Don’t you feel like the lyrics played a pretty big role in us getting second place?”
“Of course! I honestly think the lyrics just grabbed us by the collar and carried us through.”
“I have to admit, Geum’s lyrics were really something special. The fans said they were so moved by Geum’s interview that they voted even harder.”
“…Well. I don’t think the lyrics had any negative impact.”

Ryu Bora, honestly.
Look at her getting all shy by herself.
The members trickled in one by one and started settling around Kim Geum.

“Geum.”

I lay back down beside Kim Geum.

“What’s so important about first place that you’re crying over it?”
“….”
“First place is something nice to have, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. Not everyone can be first place all the time, right?”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“You’ve always been first place wherever you went, so it must sting a little. But the truth is, the world is naturally full of rankings other than first.”

Kim Geum fell silent for a moment.

“But.”
“?!”

I rested my head on Kim Geum’s stomach.
Mm.
All that training paid off.

“Next time, let’s take first. We’re the group with Geum, after all.”
“Hear, hear.”
“That’s right. We’re that rare group with Geum.”
“Not silver, but gold—well, we just need to make a gold medal.”

My members all agreed with what I said.
Times like these felt reassuring.

“Of course, StillBlue has Kim Geum, so naturally we can take first place.”

Mm.
We can do this.

“Yun Chung, but…”

Kim Geum suddenly asked me pointedly.

“So Yun Chung… why did you think we couldn’t take first place? You talked about all the other members’ issues, but you never mentioned your own.”

Ah.
This was a rather awkward question.

“I don’t know. I don’t have any issues. I’m perfect.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”

Ha ha.
I really should keep my answer a secret.

***

After confirming that my members were bickering with Kim Geum and laughing together,
I quietly left the room.
There was something I needed to do now.
Kim Geum seemed like she’d be fine.
The other members were with her.
So… now I need to do what only I can do.

Ding!

[Moment’s mega rookie girl group, ‘Enliven’, launches ‘Dear My Diva’?!]

[‘Enliven’ Da-hwin confirmed for appearance on 【Dear My Diva】. A new wind is blowing.]

[‘StillBlue’ Yun Chung VS ‘Enliven’ Da-hwin?! Who will win the main vocal battle of rookie girl groups?]

Hmm.
So this is how it turned out.
The future changed because the 【Dear My Diva】 schedule was delayed.
In my original memory, Da-hwin from Enliven wasn’t appearing on 【Dear My Diva】.
That’s what I remember.
But the future has changed.
A direct confrontation between the most talked-about rookie girl group main vocals.
This sensational title will probably generate massive buzz for a while.
For us?
No.
For them.
The more Enliven establishes a rival dynamic with us, the more recognition they gain—it’s purely beneficial for them.
For rookies, securing recognition is everything.
The problem is us.
We can’t be happy about nobodies easily riding on our recognition.
I need to cut ties at an appropriate point.
But how should I do it?
Hmm.
I was thinking of trying two approaches first.
The first method is—competing through skill.
Since they keep talking about direct confrontation, direct confrontation.
I should actually face them head-on.
By winning on 【Dear My Diva】, I need to firmly establish that they can’t even be our rivals.
The problem is….

[Purchase of 【Search Lens】 complete!]
[Current Points: 1,400]
[Using 【Search Lens】 on ‘Da-hwin (Enliven)’!]
[Scanning opponent’s stats….]
Da-hwin (Enliven)

Vocals: 99/100
Dance: 84/100
Appearance: 91/100
Charisma: 92/100
Entertainment Sense: 78/100
Personal Special Ability:
?? (88/100)
Recommended Ability to Develop:
Vocals
??

Her stats were absolutely broken.

Yun Chung (Baek Nok-ha)

Vocals: 99/100
Dance: 90/100
Appearance: 94/100
Charisma: 96/100
Entertainment Sense: 64/100
Personal Special Ability:
Composition & Songwriting (97/100)
Leadership (88/100)
Recommended Ability to Develop:
Leadership

My current stats are like this.
Slightly higher than Da-hwin’s, but the difference is negligible.
Da-hwin is truly remarkable.
I’ve built up these abilities over ten years, but Da-hwin already possessed this level of talent from her debut.
You could say it’s extraordinary talent.
It infuriates me that such talent is being wasted on rigged voting and media manipulation.
It must be the Entertainment Company’s fault.
She has no blame in this.
Still….
I’m determined to win no matter what.
And I’m confident I will.

‘Anyway.’

It was time to start preparing.
I opened the group chat.

StillBlue StillBlue

Everyone

We’re having our next album meeting tomorrow

So come prepared with concept ideas

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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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