Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 142

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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 142.

So here’s what happened….
It’s quite a long story.
To be honest, I could predict to some extent what was about to unfold.
The marketing strategy Moment had chosen was, surprisingly, quite common.
Noise marketing—attempting to ride on the recognition of a popular idol.
After all, where else would the term “reverse viral” have come from?
Beyond that, there were schemes to poach our key personnel and use them for themselves.
Companies in general wage scouting wars to steal talented people from competing firms.
Entertainment agencies are no different.
Of course, it’s rare for them to come at you this ruthlessly and aggressively.
First, the part I was most concerned about was the “scouting competition.”
My worry was whether they’d poach our key personnel.
Fortunately, our most critical talent—the composers and lyricists—didn’t need to be a concern.
Our team had me and Kim Geum handling almost everything.
So now the other departments became the issue.
First, there were stylists, makeup artists, and hair salons.
Actually, using the same salon isn’t really a problem. It’s incredibly common for idols to use the same shops.
But the stylist side….
Not long ago, I casually broached the subject with StillBlue’s dedicated stylist, probing her slightly.

“Unnie, you must be getting a lot of good offers from around lately, right?”
“Huh? Oh?!”
“Because you style us so well. I’m sure you’ve become much more popular.”

The stylist was flustered at first, but soon answered honestly.
Moment had actually made her an offer.
The conditions were so good that she was troubled about what to do.
She hesitated because suddenly switching to a competing idol group didn’t feel right ethically.
I thought for a moment, then spoke to the stylist.

“It’s really fine if you want to change jobs. But… a company without business ethics is more likely to treat its own people the same way. A company without principles won’t keep them just for their own staff.”
“…That’s true….”
“Could you wait about a week before responding to that offer? For your own sake.”
“Oh? Um…. I will!”

A week later, the stylist casually probed me with a subtle tone.

‘Yun Chung. How did you know?’

The stylist immediately vented her frustration.
Moment had changed their mind after just one week.
They were now offering only half the original terms, essentially saying take it or leave it.

‘…Haha.’

Of course I knew.
How did it happen?
I had deliberately spread rumors to Colors that we were switching stylists.
And specifically, to one who was notoriously unreliable and prone to cancellations.
I remembered all too well how much I suffered working with that person in my past life.
Even now, the thought made my teeth clench.
In any case, Moment shifted their target to that stylist instead, and our stylist decided to stay with us.
The same applied to other staff members.
We sent unreliable personnel or those with character issues to Moment, while we brought in more talented people.
People I had directly worked with in my past life.
Until now, I had deliberately avoided working with them.
I was worried I might make a mistake, or that something might feel off.
People I had known as Baek Nok-ha.
Now I had to face them again as Yun Chung.
But now I felt I truly couldn’t avoid it any longer.

“Hello~! I’m Kim Yun-young, and I’ll be working with you from today. Thank you for having me!”
“Oh. Yes. Hello. I’m Yun Chung. Thank you for working with us.”

…Still, being warmly cordial with her might require some time.
Let’s keep it professional and courteous.
Anyway.
The fact that information continues to leak even though I only shared it with Colors means there’s still a breach somewhere in the company.
I’ll need to inform Hong President about this soon.
I should tell Hong President about this soon.

Manager unnie

Cheongah

But in the list you sent,

The choreographer is missing?ㅠㅠ

We need someone to create the choreography.

Ah.
I forgot I mentioned that earlier.

Manager

I’ll find someone for you.

Don’t worry.

Good. Now that we’re on the subject, let’s get started….

Seo Baek-young

Vocals: 82/100
Dance: 94/100
Appearance: 85/100
Charisma: 79/100
Entertainment Sense: 67/100
Special Individual Ability:
Choreography Creation (83/100)
?(?/100)
Recommended Ability to Develop:
Choreography Creation

It seems the time has come to develop the members’ abilities.
Starting with Seo Baek-young.

“Sister.”

I handed water to Seo Baek-young, who was lying on the Practice Room floor.

“Hm?”
“How about you create the choreography for our next album, unnie?”
“Me?”

Seo Baek-young looked genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. You’re really good at it. You were during Menukal, and you participated a lot in the choreography for our last album too.”
“Ah, I see. So I’d just participate like I did before?”
“No. I want you to choreograph it entirely on your own.”

Seo Baek-young’s pupils began to tremble.

“Isn’t it too risky for me to choreograph our title track all by myself?”
“Not risky at all. No one knows us better than you do.”
“But still….”
“Don’t you want to try it too, unnie?”

I sat down beside Seo Baek-young.
Why do all our members love lying down like this?
It feels like every time I’m talking to someone while they’re sprawled out on the floor.

“…Um….”
“Why don’t you share with me now? Your ambitions, your desires.”
“My ambitions?”
“Yeah. Your dreams. Your vision.”

Seo Baek-young blinked rapidly.

“My vision is for us to succeed. Win rookie awards, win daesangs, renew our contracts all together, and consistently do idol work for about thirty years—that’s my dream.”
“….”

I knew she was genuinely devoted to StillBlue….

“No, I mean beyond those obvious things. Don’t you have a personal dream you want to achieve? Like solo activities or something?”
“S-s-s-s-solo?!”

Why was she so flustered?

“Why not? I could do it. I’m not saying you should abandon the group—you could do solo activities while continuing with group promotions.”

Seo Baek-young was a rare all-rounder member.
Dance, vocals, charisma.
With all three elements perfectly aligned, why couldn’t she pursue solo activities?
…Of course, it would be better to wait until the group’s activities were more stable.
After all, main dancers and main vocalists from idol groups typically challenged themselves with solo ventures.

“Actually, I don’t have much ambition for solo activities. Does that sound pathetic?”
“Not at all. Absolutely not. But I’m curious about your reason. Most people seem eager to pursue solo work.”

Seo Baek-young answered with a somewhat bashful expression.

“Before we debuted, I did dream about solo activities. But working with you all, my thoughts changed considerably.”
“…How so?”

Seo Baek-young’s eyes rolled expressively.

“I… I really love you all. That’s why I just want to keep standing on stage with you.”

Again.

“It’s not that being alone scares me, but being without you all does frighten me a little.”

This person spoke with complete directness and honest eyes.

“But I do want to dance more, so maybe I could take on some individual dance-related activities.”

That helped me understand her even better.

“Should I ask the Manager to help me get cast in variety shows like that? Haha.”

This person’s heart.
The hearts of the people around her.

“Still, Yun Chung. I want to give your suggestion a try. You’re right—you know us better than anyone. Let me choreograph it.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Why not? You’ll help me, right?”
“Everyone will be super eager to help.”
“I can tell.”
“But if you make it too hard, I’m running away.”
“Geum will drag you back and roll you around.”
“….”

Seo Baek-young said that and handed me the water bottle again.

“See? More hands make lighter work.”

That’s true.
I nodded unconsciously.
Anyway.
The choreographer was secured just like that.

***

Today was the day of the 【Dear My Diva】 VCR recording.
It was an interview shoot targeting the semifinal contestants.
Of course, both Da-hwin and I appeared.

“Ah, hello, senior…!”
“…Hello, Da-hwin.”

…I hadn’t expected to share the same Waiting Room again like this.
I was sitting in a chair, checking public opinion about 【Dear My Diva】.
I was also hoping to gather ideas for the next stage composition.
But then,

“Senior… this isn’t anything special, but…! Please accept it…!”

Hmm, she’s quite formal. Probably because she’s from a major agency and received stricter training.
With polite words, Da-hwin handed me something.
What is it? It looks like a box?
I accepted it without thinking and was startled.

“Huh?”
“Well… I asked Dan-ha and Jae-yi from BurnAsh, and they said you like pear and balloon flower juice, so…! I, I prepared some for you…!”
“….”

Where do these people keep selling my personal information?
And if I looked like someone who could be swayed by mere pear and balloon flower juice!

“Thank you.”

I saw it clearly enough.
I accepted it for now.
Then I took two bottles of pear and balloon flower juice from the box and handed one to Da-hwin.

“I should be the one doing this for you. I’ll enjoy it gratefully. Please have some too, Da-hwin.”
“Yes, yes!”

Da-hwin quickly accepted the juice and downed it in one shot.
…
This person…

“D-delicious!”
“…Your throat doesn’t hurt…?”
“No, no! *cough*, *cough*…”

She was incredibly nervous…
Why was she so tense in front of me anyway?
Why did she treat me like such a senior when we only debuted two months apart?

“Anyway… I’ll enjoy this with my members. Thank you.”

Why did she give me this?
Was it an apology for what happened before?
I carefully set the pear and balloon flower juice aside.

“Um, um Senior…!”
“Yes?”

Then.

Ding!
Ding!

Two message notifications chimed simultaneously.
One from my phone, one from Da-hwin’s phone.
My phone was the one exclusively for Cotton Ball Entity.
What is this?
Since it had been ages since I received a notification, I decided to check it and pulled the phone out.

[!Sudden Mission!
Win the semifinals of 【Dear My Diva】!
Reward: 500 points
Penalty for failure: 1,000 points deducted
※Sorry~! Business has been slow lately, so I need to earn some points~!※]

“This crazy Cotton Ball Entity….”
“Bad fur ball….”

Huh?
That sounded like something familiar…?
Bad fur ball…?

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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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