Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 162

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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 162.

Outside, people loved us more and more.
Yet here we were, passing the time with anxious hearts.
Ever since Ryu Bora went home, all contact had ceased.
As the time she promised to return drew near and then passed, worry consumed me.
What if her family was pressuring her to quit right now?
Surely not.
I wanted to believe they wouldn’t go that far with a daughter struggling through such difficult times, but given everything I’d heard, that faith didn’t come easily.

“Why isn’t Ryu Bora answering her phone?”

Even Kim Geum, usually so composed, wore a tense expression.
She needed to arrive within ten minutes or we’d be late for the music broadcast schedule.
In truth, missing one day wouldn’t have been a problem.
It was already unreasonable that we’d pushed through yesterday’s broadcast schedule after everything that happened.
When Ryu Bora said she was struggling, the four of us had practiced all night, ready to quickly rearrange our positions if needed.
But we still had to inform the broadcasting station beforehand.
Never mind that.
Setting everything else aside.
We were simply anxious because we couldn’t reach Ryu Bora.

“What if she’s being held captive at home?”
“…I want to say that’s ridiculous, but it’s so plausible I have nothing to counter with.”

Listening to Yeon Ju-hong and Kim Geum’s exchange, I sighed as well.
I knew Ryu Bora’s parents’ temperament all too well.
I glanced at Seo Baek-young.
She too looked increasingly worried, her face etched with concern.

“Someone should try calling—”

Just then.
Beep beep beep beep beep beep.
The sound of someone entering the entrance code echoed through the dormitory.

“Ryu Bora!”
“Bora, bora…! I missed you so much…!”
“Wow. Perfect timing.”

The four of us rushed over and embraced Ryu Bora at once.
Ryu Bora let out a deep sigh and gently pushed us away.

“You’re heavy.”

Such a cold one.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Is anything difficult? How are you feeling?”
“…I’ve heard that question like a thousand times already, so if you ask again, I’m going to snap.”
“I’ll stay quiet.”

Thug deer….
Maybe you’re not a deer at all, but a musk deer.

“…Let’s go already. I’m here now.”
“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed right now?”
“Be quiet.”

Only then did our tension ease.
That’s right.
Now that Ryu Bora was here, we could move forward too.

***

“Thank you!”

The Broadcasting Station asked us to perform two songs: “You’re My Word” and another.
But we declined the Broadcasting Station’s proposal and performed only “Paper Dol.”
Performing two songs wouldn’t change anything.
In times like these, even a single verse is bound to become a hot topic.
This was precisely when I needed to exercise extreme restraint.
There was no benefit to being accused of greed after an accident.
Especially not for Ryu Bora.
Now was not the time to bask in attention, but rather to remember that this attention wasn’t truly ours.
I had to hold back, again and again.

“They pushed our performance slot back quite a bit from the usual schedule.”
“Well, we did rank first last week.”
“Honestly, this whole situation probably had an effect too.”

Ryu Bora spoke in a dark tone, and I didn’t bother denying it.
She’s sharp enough to see through it anyway.
Denying it would only dampen her mood.

“Let’s look at the bright side. It’s not negative attention—it’s encouragement from people who believe in us.”
“…That’s not the kind of attention I should be receiving. It’s attention the other members deserve.”

All the members cast sympathetic glances at Ryu Bora’s words.

“…I’m grateful to all of you. I know I’m saying this too late.”
“If you’re so grateful, then you announce the first-place speech.”

Kim Geum grinned mischievously.
She knew Ryu Bora dreaded holding the microphone more than anyone else, so she was deliberately pushing her into it.
The reverse-ranking performance sparked by this week’s buzz wouldn’t apply until next week.
Since most of the momentum would be exhausted by the second week, it was unlikely we’d sweep first place this week.
Today was the day with the highest chance of us winning first place among the five music broadcasts.

“…Fine.”
“Wow. You really are grateful, huh.”

When Ryu Bora agreed so readily, Kim Geum didn’t know what to do with herself.
Why’d she say something that didn’t even get her what she wanted?

“But Bora, are you really okay?”

Ryu Bora seemed too compliant, and her forced composure made me uneasy. I couldn’t shake the worry.
The other members were concerned too, but I was more anxious about her than anyone.

“Stop asking and just tell me what I should say for the first-place speech.”
“Just say whatever’s on your mind.”

Why is she asking me that?
I’m not a broadcast writer.
Does she think I’m someone who spits out dialogue on command?

“How am I supposed to write the comment by myself? We’ve always worked on it together until now. So Kim Geum, you—”
“You write it alone.”
“…Ju-hong.”
“Huh?”

Yeon Ju-hong wore an expression that wouldn’t budge even if you held a knife to her throat.
Ryu Bora looked like her neck was about to burst with tension.

“…Baek-young.”
“I think the fans will feel reassured if we hear Bora’s genuine feelings today, don’t you?”

At the mention of fans, Ryu Bora’s mouth snapped shut immediately.
It was almost like a cheat code for handling Ryu Bora among us.

“If I mess up while announcing the first-place feelings, everyone will die.”

I could see everyone thinking, ‘But you’re the one making the mistake—why would we die?’
Yet not a single person voiced that thought aloud.

***

“Second week of March. This week’s Music Time number one is—”

I felt the camera capturing us.

“StillBlue!”

Confetti rained down with the fanfare.
As promised, we immediately handed the microphone to Ryu Bora.
I thought I saw a flash of murderous intent in Ryu Bora’s eyes, but let’s ignore that.

“StillBlue, who overcame an enormous crisis like heroes. And us, overcoming difficult times—Bora, please share your first-place acceptance speech!”

The MCs, noticing the atmosphere drifting, quickly shifted the subject to Ryu Bora.
There was nowhere left to run.
All the members simply gripped Ryu Bora’s shoulders tightly.
In fact, before Ryu Bora even arrived, they had all made a promise beforehand.
They would give the first-place comments to Bora, who must have felt more frustrated and scared than anyone.
After all, she was the one who couldn’t share her true feelings with anyone while constantly reading our moods.
Still… it felt right to give Ryu Bora the chance to greet the fans.
At least, that’s what we thought.
And if Ryu Bora had truly hated it, she probably would have pretended not to hear and passed the microphone straight to me.

“….”

She wouldn’t just be standing there gripping the microphone like that, unable to open her mouth, staring only at the audience.

“Bora?”
“…First.”

At the MC’s urging, Ryu Bora’s lips finally parted.

“First, I want to say thank you and… I’m sorry to Ever Blue. I think you were all very surprised and worried. But we’re all okay. Thanks to your concern, we’re slowly recovering. I’m grateful for all the support you’ve sent us.”

She said she couldn’t speak, yet she was doing just fine.
The members were smiling—I could see it.

“We at StillBlue will never forget this moment you’ve given us… or the heart and support behind it.”

She was so nervous that her knuckles had turned white from gripping the microphone so tightly.
She could barely string her words together.
She wasn’t crying, and there were no tears in her eyes.
She simply couldn’t continue speaking.
Just as we were beginning to worry.

“And I… will never forget the moments my members have given me.”

Ryu Bora finished her remarks.

***

[StillBlue Achieves 1st Place for 3 Consecutive Weeks]
[Undisputed ‘Trend’ StillBlue, 13 Music Show Wins]
[The Public’s ‘Reverse Run’, Week 4 Sweeps 5 Music Show Wins]
[How Far Will StillBlue’s Reverse Run Go? Aiming for Week 5]
[Who Will Win Rookie of the Year? StillBlue VS Enliven… So Far ‘StillBlue’]
[Next Generation Top Girl Group…? StillBlue, One Step Away with 13 Music Show Wins]

Currently, StillBlue was riding a wave of success at a dizzying pace.
By week two of their activities, they’d claimed 5 music show wins.
Week three brought 3 wins.
And ironically, they reversed course in week four to achieve 5 more wins.
A total of 13 music show wins.
It was an overwhelming record among girl groups of their generation.
Colors’ stock price was rising in tandem.
Colors didn’t miss the timing either, announcing plans to release an additional mini album before year’s end.
The media and public opinion assumed StillBlue would now accelerate their individual activities.
The tide had come in.
Wasn’t it only natural to row with the current?
And yet.
StillBlue halted all individual activities.
Entertainment offers poured in relentlessly, but they rejected everything except schedules booked before the incident.
The members vanished from the broadcasting world the moment their existing individual activity schedules wrapped up.

I thought StillBlue would appear way more often

They’re not showing up except for pre-recorded broadcasts;
Looks like they decided not to do new recordings
Are they resting?

I guess that’s why it’s a pityㅠㅠㅠ
The members must’ve been shocked, so resting is the right call
Still, they should return after 2 weeks Baek-young and Geum’s fixed variety show starts recording in 2 weeks
└Only 2 weeks to rest? Colors fans, didn’t you learn anything seeing Yun Chung get hurt?
Honestly, what I like about StillBlue resting is

Check out all the individual activities happening right now
They would’ve just gotten hate for exploiting a tragic incident to draw attention

Honestly, it’s nice that they’re taking a step back.
Especially if Ryu Bora and Seo Baek-young had shown up, they would’ve gotten absolutely destroyed in the comments…
Seriously though? The members are going to spill everything on broadcast later, right? People are even saying the whole incident itself was fabricated.
└Lmao, Colors fans were even spreading rumors that it was noise marketing.
At this point, it’s better if they just take a break.
If the members had pushed through with their schedule—

All we’d hear about is Colors and Hong President being psychopaths.
If anyone caught the members smiling, people would’ve said they look fine so it’s all lies anyway.

I want to believe it won’t get that bad… but I can’t say anything because there’s a history of worse things happening.
Have you seen how logical the haters are? They’re just here to stir up drama.

The fans’ emotions were mixed—half disappointed, half relieved.
It was disappointing not to see StillBlue as often as expected, but the thought that the members could rest brought more comfort than anything.
Just as they were settling into that bittersweet feeling—
news arrived that shattered everyone’s expectations.

??StillBlue is appearing on a US variety show today?

??Wait… suddenly?
They’re on the Philip Show???

????? Isn’t that place famous?
└Yeah, it is.
K-pop idols have appeared there before.
└But those were idols who had already debuted in the US. StillBlue hasn’t even shown signs of US expansion.
StillBlue has been getting some overseas attention lately lol, but this is so sudden it’s shocking.
Could it be because of that incident video??? It actually made the news in the US as a trending topic lololol
└Yeah, it’s been circulating as a meme on OTube too lol
Did you see Philip’s tweet today?

lololololololololol

[Today I’m introducing the heroes who took down the villain]
[If you want to see me take that famous Korean kick, you better watch tonight’s show :)]

It’s not coming across as K-pop at all
more like girls who took down the bad guys lololol
I guess it’s trending a bit overseas too because of this whole thing

lololololololol
lol StillBlue coming out as heroes instead of idols is hilarious

lololol
They’re idols though guys, not movie heroes
Though they’re definitely heroes in my heart

They’re apparently doing a performance too, but that’s not really the main point—they just invited them because they thought StillBlue was interesting lol
lololololololol
This show usually invites interesting ordinary people

They often bring on people who go viral in the news and interview them
They don’t appear for the whole hour—just chat for about 15 to 20 minutes and wrap up lol
StillBlue’s appearance will probably feel similar

Fans who’d been worried it might be a sudden United States debut immediately relaxed.
It was far too obvious that this was just a one-off appearance riding the wave of current buzz.
It was simply a variety show appearance.
Since the program was incredibly popular within the United States, many fans were actually excited.
The general public’s reaction was mostly that the appearance itself was funny.
A failed United States debut as an idol group would invite ridicule.
But simply appearing on a light variety show as brave Korean girls felt entirely different.
And so, in that moment when everyone’s anticipation reached its peak.

It’s starting, it’s starting

lololol the StillBlue girls are coming out lololol

On a television screen far away in the United States, StillBlue appeared.

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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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