Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 14

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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 14.

A brief break…though the cameras never stopped rolling.
The constant pressure of being filmed meant none of the trainees could truly rest.
Yes. This was the truly exhausting part of a broadcast claiming to showcase ‘reality’.
Every moment of downtime was being recorded.

“Chung, unnie.”

As expected, a trainee approached me immediately.
Who was it this time?

“Um… could you spare a moment to look at something?”

Ah.
I nodded right away.

“Of course. What do you need help with?”

Yeon Ju-hong.
Surprising, perhaps, but given her naturally affable personality, there was nothing particularly odd about it.

“Um… just my pitch… The trainer’s advice hasn’t quite clicked yet….”
“Sure, let’s try singing it together.”

I listened intently to Yeon Ju-hong’s voice.
I genuinely wanted to help her.
Because—

“Okay, relax your throat a bit here—”

They’re my pick for debut.
I had no intention of keeping StillBlue’s original lineup as it was.
I’d done that in my past life and failed once—there was no reason to repeat the same mistake.
Especially since the reason for that failure was member blunders, a lineup change was absolutely necessary.
Kim Ryeo-yu had to go, and the other members… if needed, they’d have to be replaced too.
The question was who to replace them with.
And the trainee I’d selected as my strongest candidate was her.

“Wow, when I do it like you said, it really goes up!”

Yeon Ju-hong.

“I’m glad I could help.”

It wasn’t because she’d been popular in my past life.
Yeon Ju-hong had her own unique ‘position’.
Yeon Ju-hong said she disliked her ambiguous position, but that statement, flipped around—

“How do you know these things so well, Chung-chung?”

—meant she could blend into any position.
…But where on earth did this “Chung-chung” nickname come from?
I’m Baek Nok-ha.
Thirty years old.
Ten years into my idol career.
I’d heard all sorts of nicknames before, but hearing a non-fan use such a casual one made me feel oddly embarrassed.

“Well, after being a trainee for so long, I guess I just… picked it up naturally.”

Yeon Ju-hong was the member who could keep her center well among members whose personalities were wildly overflowing.
The Colors trainees had solid skills, and their strong personalities were great too, but…
There wasn’t much sense of good chemistry between them.
Yeon Ju-hong was the perfect member to create that kind of ‘chemistry’.

“You’re seriously amazing, unnie. I should get closer to you.”

It wasn’t simply because she had good social skills.
Good social skills that work well with everyone are nice, but—

“If we end up going to the Dormitory, let’s share a room together!”
“I’m fine with that.”

Yeon Ju-hong possessed something uniquely her own.

“What, you two got close already?”

The trainee subtly inserting herself into the conversation was none other than Jo Hee-on.
She was also supposed to be one of the members who debuted.
She didn’t have any particularly distinctive features, but if there was one thing that stood out—

“Oh, Yun Chung has been helping me with my vocals!”

She was Kim Ryeo-yu’s best friend.
Perhaps because of that, the two shared many similarities.

“So you’re lining up behind Yun Chung just because her skills improved? Ju-hong’s smarter though, isn’t she?”

For instance, the way she subtly irritated people.
Not quite enough to pick a real fight over, but exquisitely calculated.
Just as I was about to counter,

“Oh no, you’re smarter than me, unnie. You’ve been lined up behind Kim Ryeo-yu for ages!”

Yeon Ju-hong moved faster, getting ahead of me.

“…What?”
“Oh, seriously. I need to learn from you, unnie! I have no sense of these things, you know? I can’t really pick sides or line up behind people like that. I didn’t even know Director Kim was my uncle! I really need to learn from you, unnie. I’m just so bad at social stuff…”

…She’s sharp.

“You’re saying—”
“Oh no. Did I mess up again?”

Bright and cheerful.
Yeon Ju-hong spoke with a wide, radiant smile.
Jo Hee-on was about to get angry, then glanced at the camera.
She gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

“No, Ju-hong. But if you talk like that, what am I supposed to do~ How could I possibly…”
“Huh? I was just joking?”
“What?”
“Weren’t you joking too? You’re not serious, are you? I mean, who lines up among trainees?”

Yeon Ju-hong’s eyes had shifted in an instant.
Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes had taken on a slightly unsettling gleam.

“No, of course not~ I didn’t mean it….”
“Come on, let’s not get all pouty about stuff like this! Let’s just laugh it off!”
“Hahaha….”

…I’ve misjudged her.
She’s not someone with good interpersonal skills.
She’s just… scary.
Jo Hee-on said nothing more and quietly returned to her spot.
And the moment Jo Hee-on disappeared, Yeon Ju-hong turned back to me with that bright, cheerful expression.

“Can I ask the next question then?”
“Sure.”

…Would it really be okay to debut with her?

***

“Alright, now let’s go meet your mentors. Just follow the staff members to the Conference Room they’ll guide you to~”

Finally.
The long-awaited meeting with the mentors.
The staff began calling trainees one by one and guiding them away.
And… I was last.
Something about this feels ominous.
Why do I keep getting pushed to the end?
My bad premonition proved right.
Once all the trainees had left and the Practice Room stood empty, Oh PD called out to me.

“Alright, trainee Yun Chung.”
“Yes?”
“Originally, a Purple Apple member was supposed to be assigned as your mentor, right?”

This feels ominous.
Oh PD’s expression was ambiguous. He didn’t look particularly satisfied, nor did he appear dissatisfied.
What is that expression?

“By the way, it seems the CEO is overseas at the moment.”

…That’s not right. I confirmed the CEO was in Korea when I arrived earlier.

“So now, suddenly recruiting another member from Purple Apple would be quite difficult. You understand, right?”
“Yes, of course. I was being unreasonable from the start anyway. I apologize….”
“Ah, there’s nothing to apologize for.”

Oh PD waved his hand dismissively with practiced ease.

“Anyway, so!”

Oh PD flashed a grin.
When that guy smiles, it’s never a good sign.

“I thought it would be nice to give you the benefit for ranking first in the mid-term evaluation.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll give you a choice.”

…As expected.

“Behold~ the aptly named~! Stealing another trainee’s mentor!”
“…Stealing…?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you all the mentors currently assigned to the other trainees. You pick one and make them Yun Chung’s mentor instead.”

Damn it.

“But then… what about that trainee…?”
“They’ll just continue without a mentor!”

This master of cruelty and manipulation.
I ground my teeth inwardly.

“Here’s the mentor-mentee assignment list. I’ll give you ten minutes to review it and decide which trainee’s mentor you want to take!”

Oh PD left behind only the list, me, and the camera.
Suddenly, I found myself staring holes through paper in a Practice Room with only the camera for company.
Everyone had been assigned members within the expected range, more or less.
If I had to point out what stood out.

Kim Ryeo-yu – Do Hee-young (Greysh)

That’s about it.
Assigning a judge as a mentor—isn’t that blatant favoritism?
Displaying such obvious bias so openly doesn’t seem like it would be good for her either.
…No, wait.
I reconsidered.
This is bait.
No matter how you look at it, this was a message directed at me.
A message telling me to take Do Hee-young away from Kim Ryeo-yu.
I thought I understood Oh PD’s true intentions.
He was trying to set up a confrontation between Kim Ryeo-yu and me.

“Hmm.”

I recalled the footage we’d shot so far.
By now, the viewers probably knew it too.
That Kim Ryeo-yu was Director Kim’s niece and receiving subtle favoritism.
And someone would be waiting for it. For me to drive out that “villain” Kim Ryeo-yu.
Someone like Oh PD, for instance.
Unexpected.
So he’d decided to make Kim Ryeo-yu the “villain.”
I’d thought he’d be on Director Kim’s side, but apparently not.
First, I needed to read Oh PD’s true intentions.
But that didn’t mean I was going to play along with whatever he had in mind.

***

“All decided?”

Oh PD returned precisely ten minutes later.
Grinning so widely his gums were fully exposed.
Irritating bastard.

“Yes, I’ve decided.”
“Oh, really?”

Oh PD’s eyes widened—he hadn’t expected me to decide so quickly.
But it was a surprise tinged with delight.

“Excellent. Then, Yun Chung trainee.”
“Yes.”
“Whose mentor will you steal?”
“I will…”

***

Production staff: Are you happy with your mentor?

[Su-in: Of course I’m happy with them. They’re a senior I’ve always admired so much.]
[Bora: It’s the greatest advantage of being a Colors trainee.]
[Baek-young: Just overwhelming gratitude?]

Production staff: But that mentor could be taken from you.

[Ryeo-yu: …What?]
[Ju-hong: What?!]
[Geum: Oh.]

Production staff: Since we failed to recruit the CEO, we’ve given Yun Chung trainee the authority to steal another trainee’s mentor as a reward for placing first in the mid-term evaluation instead.

[Ju-hong: Yun Chung unnie can actually steal our mentor?!]
[Ju-seon: Insane.]
[Hee-on: That’s a bit too much….]
[Gyeong-a: …I hope I haven’t done anything to upset Yun Chung…]
[Yu-hyeon: This can’t happen!!]

Production staff: Who do you think she chose?

[Baek-young: …Ryeo-yu?]
[Geum: Being assigned a judge as a mentor from the start is….]
[Su-in: It’s definitely attractive, though.]
[Ryeo-yu: That’s gotta be me. Ah…. I’m done for.]
[Ju-hong: Who did you pick, unnie??]

Production Staff: The person chosen by trainee Yun Chung is….

Caption: Revealed in 1 minute!

[Trainee Yun Chung’s choice?!]

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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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