Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 146

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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 146.

“Thank you for your hard work~!”
“You did great.”

Today we finished filming a bank commercial.
A bank promotional ambassador—it made sense in terms of recognition, but given how conservative the banking industry was, they typically cast models with high credibility.
I understood they were trying to be aggressive in their model selection to target younger demographics.
In my past life, Enliven had secured this spot.
But in this life, we’re the ones filming this commercial.
It was probably possible because “Falling Petals” had generated such a strong response from middle-aged audiences as well.
Even though they were targeting younger viewers, an idol with a good image among middle-aged people would be even more valuable.

Your voice has such wonderful depth to it^^ It’s quite different from Seo Na-yun’s charm, and I really enjoyed it
It was a song that could make you feel nostalgic haha. I’m happy to have a song that I can listen to together with my daughter.

The grateful responses made me even happier.
This was why I loved singing.
Let’s see—next on the schedule was recording for the next album.
As we got into the car, I observed the members’ expressions and saw they were all quite tense.
They always got like this when recording time came around.
Why, you ask?

“Everyone, prepare yourselves today.”

Because Kim Geum says things like that….

“Why do you always tell us to prepare ourselves?! Can’t we just enjoy the recording?!”
“If you perform well, it will be enjoyable; if you perform poorly, it will be painful.”

I heard Yeon Ju-hong mutter, “She’s insane.”

“At least now that the title’s been decided, I feel relieved.”
“Yun Chung, this song is going to be absolutely massive.”

Kim Geum looked at me with burning eyes.

“Next time, I’ll definitely be chosen as the title track…!”
“Your song was already picked as a double title track though.”
“But it’s not the main one! I need to keep working until the day I’m chosen as the main title.”

She’s impressive, but why does it feel so intimidating….
I removed the headphones from Kim Geum’s head.

“Rest your ears on the way there.”
“I can’t. I need to start now so I can give feedback to everyone later….”
“You’re going to be up all night anyway, so there’s no point pushing yourself now.”
“Okay.”

At the mention of pulling an all-nighter, Kim Geum smiled faintly.
But the other members grew somber.
I’m sorry…. I can’t help it….

“Yun Chung. Did you check the email I sent you?!”
“I’ll look at it now.”

I pulled out my tablet and checked the email Yeon Ju-hong had sent.

“Oh. All the concept references are ready.”
“Yes! What do you think?!”

I reviewed each piece of material Yeon Ju-hong had sent and nodded.

“It’s really good. The ideas are exactly what we discussed, and I think the fans will love it.”
“These days, albums need to contain more than just songs, you know?”

That’s true.
So we also focused on the album’s bonus content and various elements.
Then Yeon Ju-hong came up with an idea, and everyone immediately agreed.
After that, Yeon Ju-hong became the co-art director for this album and has been creating it ever since.

“I hope this album becomes something the fans can enjoy and have fun playing with.”

Yeon Ju-hong blinked rapidly.

“It’s a shame it’s only a single!”
“Still, we’ve got the intro, title track, and double title… three songs. I’d love for the next album to be a full-length release.”

Since there wasn’t much of a gap from the previous album, we needed time to regroup and rebuild.
Not just me, but Kim Geum, who composed with me, needed to manage her stamina too.
We had to create new songs for the next album as well.
I laughed when I saw the bonus content for this album that Yeon Ju-hong had created.
She’d really brought something so perfectly Yeon Ju-hong.

“How did you even know about this? Our generation doesn’t use things like that.”
“Retro is trending these days. I was searching hard for ideas and got so tired I fell asleep. Then I had a dream.”
“A dream?”
“It was a memory of when I was little, playing with my mom.”

Ah.
How adorable.
I gave Yeon Ju-hong, who was looking at me with hopeful eyes, a word of praise as a reward.

“You did well.”
“Am I a child?! Why are you giving me candy?!”
“…Well….”

You kind of are, though…
I was about to say that, but I quickly averted my gaze instead.

“Right. The fans have been really upset with our company lately. Yun Chung, did you see?!”

Just then, Yeon Ju-hong leaned forward from the back seat.

“Yeah, I saw. It’s because the seasonal greeting shipments were delayed.”
“What company ships seasonal greetings in February?”

Kim Geum shook her head beside me.

“We put so much thought into the concept for that.”
“Right.”
“The company must be in chaos right now.”

I let out a sigh.
It seemed Hong President was taking longer than expected to consolidate control of the Company.
Finding the spy from Moment also appeared to be proving quite difficult.
With the Company atmosphere so unsettled, the StillBlue team members seemed scattered and unfocused as well.

“I’ll look into it.”
“There’s also a clue for our next album there. Please work something out with the Shop Owner.”
“Roger that.”

Wait.
When did they all find out I was in contact with Hong President?
I suddenly looked at the members in surprise, and they were all grinning at me.
…There’s nothing about me they don’t know.
I need to live more secretively.

***

There is a person here.
She hadn’t been a fan of StillBlue for very long.
Not when everyone else became fans during Make a New Color, and not during Blue either.
The moment she accidentally became a fan was during Falling Blossoms.
They say becoming a fan is like a traffic accident, don’t they.
One day, while mindlessly watching videos according to the algorithm OTube recommended, she saw a Stage performance video of Falling Blossoms.
And she became a fan right then and there.
But she kept brainwashing herself that she wasn’t completely a fan.
I only like Yun Chung, I only like Yun Chung… she repeated to herself.
But regardless of her firm resolve, her body was already at the Colors Store.
When I came to my senses, I was here.
What is the Colors Store?
It’s the place that sells all of Colors’ merchandise.
Why was I standing in line here at 3 AM?
To buy the season greeting I couldn’t get last year because I wasn’t a fan yet.
(*Season greeting: a collection of New Year commemorative merchandise released by celebrities at the end of each year.)
Usually, season greetings were shipped at the end of the year or beginning of the new year.
But something went wrong in the production process, and StillBlue’s season greeting had its shipping schedule delayed far more than other idols under Colors.
Colors promised to make up for the late shipment by producing additional units and releasing them offline.
And this was the result.
StillBlue fans lined up since 3 AM.
Yet everyone here was beaming with joy.
She couldn’t understand this phenomenon right now.

‘It’s freezing to death, so why is everyone grinning like idiots…?!’

It’s February now.
Standing out here at dawn in this state feels like cruel and unusual punishment, doesn’t it?
…Of course, I chose to come here myself.
I had no choice.
I saw the reviews for the Season Greeting, and the photo card of Yun Chung included in it was absolutely incredible.
It was none other than… a photo card taken on the day of the 【Falling Petals】 Stage performance!
Since that was the stage where I first fell for Yun Chung, I absolutely had to have it.
Someone told this fan, ‘Aren’t you way too much of a solo fan?!’ but fans don’t worry about such things.
She is a solo fan, but not a malicious hater who dislikes the other members.
Rather, she’s closer to an “all-fan” who loves the other members too.
It’s just that… she loves Yun Chung as her one and only.
Then, I heard voices talking from behind me.

“What time does it open here?”
“Today only, they’re opening an hour early, so 8 o’clock.”
“Thank goodness for that, seriously.”
“Colors fans…. You’re good bad guys….”

That’s exactly right.
I’m grateful they’re releasing merchandise…. But…. the limited quantity drives me crazy…. But still, I’m thankful they’re releasing it offline for slow-internet fans like me…. But the quantity…! You guys…!
Make way more of it beforehand!
Then devoted fans wouldn’t have to line up at the crack of dawn, would they?

“Colors seemed surprised too. Our firepower is way too strong.”
“Are we really going to sell out? Yeah, three seconds flat.”
“Even I’m surprised, and I’m a fellow fan. Don’t underestimate Ever Blue….”
“Most rookie Season Greetings are the most generous anyway. Everyone’s literally risking their lives to buy them.”
“That’s true.”
“It’s not even a limited edition. Since it’s ongoing, they let us buy them all year round. After March, they said they’d let us buy individual items too, so we were wondering what Colors was thinking….”
“But if you receive the Season Greeting in March…! A fan’s pride can’t accept that.”
“That’s also true.”
“The girls asked them to include a diary in this merchandise. Isn’t that basically telling us to keep a fan diary?!”
“I skipped writing my diary diligently back in elementary school, and now I’m actually going to write one.”

Faced with such irrefutable logic, even I found myself nodding unconsciously.
Oh.
In that moment of camaraderie, I’d let my guard slip.
So I spent the time eavesdropping on the conversations of my fellow enthusiasts.
Before I knew it, it was 8 o’clock.
The Colors Store doors swung wide open.
The fans lined up orderly, each purchasing their season greeting one by one.
And I was no exception.
Clutching my precious season greeting box, I returned home.
Convinced I couldn’t appreciate this momentous merchandise alone, I even set up a camera and positioned myself perfectly.
Unboxing time!

‘Oh, so this is that diary the members were talking about.’

The sky-blue retro-style diary was absolutely adorable.
What made it even cuter was how the members had personally written “It’s my birthday!” in their respective birthday slots.
Next came the photo card reveal.
First… three photo cards of Yun Chung.
One with the 【Falling Petals】 concept, one in casual wear, and finally one with the season greeting concept.
They were all breathtaking.
The lineup was so worth every penny that I couldn’t help but grin.
Now, it was time for the other members.
As I pondered which to look at first, one card caught my eye.
It was Yeon Ju-hong’s photo card set.
What kind of member was Yeon Ju-hong to me?
The cute youngest member who was close to Yun Chung.
That was about it.
But this time, that card seemed to call to me like fate itself.

‘What is this?’

The moment I picked up the card.
I felt a new world opening before me.
And so my identity transformed—I became a Hong enthusiast.

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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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