Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 192

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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 192.

“Wow, it’s been forever. You guys.”
“How have you been?! We listen to our unnie’s new song all the time.”
“Even if it’s just flattery, I appreciate it. I deliberately don’t listen to your songs. I get jealous.”

Despite her gruff tone.
Lee Gyeong-a, whom I was seeing after so long, looked genuinely happy.
Before, she always seemed listless, but now she was completely different.
It wasn’t just Lee Gyeong-a who looked happy.

“Hey, Lee Ju-seon. You debuted and your aura became so radiant.”
“I was always radiant, though?!”
“Wow. Self-praising about your own beauty?”

Lee Ju-seon had debuted in the same group as Lee Gyeong-a, occupying the same position.
Whether they deliberately mixed people who appeared on Make a New Color when assigning tables, Lee Gyeong-a and Lee Ju-seon’s group, Eight Cases, was sitting at our table.

“You unnies were also nominees for Rookie of the Year with us?!”
“Yeah. But we barely made it in. You guys were naturally included.”
“Come on. That’s not how it works.”

They said both of them found good entertainment companies.
Fortunately, they debuted without incident.
They debuted in September and are already appearing at awards ceremonies.
That’s impressive.
I’d heard that Hong President had made efforts to connect the Make a New Color trainees who didn’t make the cut with other agencies.
He diligently searched for entertainment companies looking for debut groups and helped everyone debut as quickly as possible.
Seeing this, Hong President wasn’t a bad person.
He just… got tired of management because he was so obsessed with his own music.

“You guys seem in a good mood today?”
“Why?”
“Why? You’re basically confirmed for Rookie of the Year, aren’t you?”
“Don’t say things like that. It’s bad luck.”

Kim Geum hastily covered Lee Gyeong-a’s mouth.
The Platinum Music Awards was the opening act of the year-end awards season.
If we could just win the Rookie Award here, the atmosphere suggested we’d sweep the other ceremonies too….
Everyone had their nerves on edge.
We were no exception.
And I was especially tense about it all.

‘They won’t give joint awards. Damn that Cotton Ball Entity.’

The Platinum Music Awards was an awards ceremony under the TMM umbrella, Moment’s parent group.
This year, Moment had ambitiously pushed exactly two groups.
Enliven and NextGen.
Naturally, they’d be itching to hand out something to one of us.
The question was what award that would be….
The chances of Enliven getting the Rookie Award solo were slim.
No matter how recklessly TMM operates, they couldn’t ignore us.
Besides, this awards ceremony loved joint awards anyway.
An Enliven and StillBlue joint Rookie Award? That would be no problem at all.

‘Just try giving the Rookie Award jointly, you bastards. Do you know how much our careers differ?’

Baek Ju-ha seemed equally bothered, complaining about it the entire way to the ceremony.
The members themselves, though… seemed grateful just to receive an award, whether joint or solo.

‘Yun Chung, aren’t you annoyed?’
‘Well….’

I deliberately trailed off.

‘TMM probably won’t come out with a joint award that easily.’
‘Huh? Why?’

Well.
Because.

‘Enliven has one member who’s gone rogue too….’

I glanced over toward the table where Enliven was seated.

‘!!’

When Da-hwin made eye contact, I waved back with an equally delighted expression.
There’s something refreshingly innocent about her that I appreciate.
I returned her wave with a light gesture of my own.
Da-hwin sprang up and hurried toward me with quick, eager steps.
Since the Awards Ceremony Venue hadn’t started yet, she seemed to want to greet me.

“Senior!”
“I told you to call me unnie….”
“Hehe.”

Da-hwin broke into a bright smile.
She used to be so downcast before.
But ever since that director with the ruined character left the company, she’s become much more cheerful.
Da-hwin began whispering directly into my ear.

“I made sure to tell our company very firmly about this!”
“I told you there’s no need to go that far….”
“It’s not just for you, senior—it’s a decision for our group too! And since someone who actually listens to us came this time… I don’t think my words fell on completely deaf ears.”
“I’m glad a decent person showed up.”
“It’s all thanks to you, senior. I’ll never forget this kindness.”
“If you just call me unnie, that’s all the repayment I need….”

Da-hwin smiled brightly once more and returned to her seat.
She’ll probably keep calling me senior even until the day she dies.
Whether in my past life or this one, there isn’t even much of an age gap between us, so I don’t understand why she insists on adding that honorific.
Though in broadcast interviews, she does call me unnie readily enough.
But whenever we’re alone together, she clings to that “senior” title.
Am I really that intimidating?
Anyway.
That’s how it was.
Ever since Da-hwin learned that I had to win the Rookie Award solo at the Platinum Music Awards.
She’d been consistently advocating with her company.
I’d told her hundreds of times there was no need, but Da-hwin’s position was crystal clear.

‘We’re in a growth phase too. Our debut album still hasn’t completely escaped the controversy over bulk purchases. If we receive a joint award at the biggest awards ceremony in this situation… we’ll inevitably draw attention.’

Enliven’s second album, unlike their debut, had no bulk purchases involved.
As a result, their firepower and initial sales figures naturally had to decline.
Some people began raising questions about whether bulk purchases had gone into the debut album instead.
In that situation, Enliven was being as cautious as possible with their words.
Perhaps Da-hwin had told the agency that forcing a joint rookie award in these circumstances wasn’t a good idea.
It was partly for my sake… but also to protect their own group.
I’d already experienced firsthand in my past life how painful bulk purchase controversies could be.
It was unfortunate that they had to suffer for a situation they hadn’t chosen themselves.

“I’m so excited about our joint stage today!”
“Ugh. I’m just thrilled to finally be free from those stage rehearsals.”
“Honestly, it was so exhausting….”

At Yeon Ju-hong’s words, all the Eight Cases members shook their heads in agreement.

“Ju-hong, you have a lot of stages today, right?”
“Yeah, I’m performing in the rookie girl group youngest members’ line stage too.”
“StillBlue almost doesn’t do any special stages, right?”
“What about Geum?”
“You’ll find out when you watch later. No spoilers.”
“What are you talking about? I already saw it all in the articles.”

Kim Geum and Yeon Ju-hong, StillBlue’s representative social butterflies, chatted enthusiastically with the Eight Cases members.
At least with them around, we don’t end up with social awkwardness controversies….

“Unni, there’s a fan of yours over there.”

Just then, Ryu Bora tapped my shoulder and spoke.
I turned to look where Ryu Bora was pointing, and sure enough, I spotted one of my fans in the audience.
It looked like they were holding a camera and taking pictures of me.
If this were during the awards ceremony, I’d need to be careful, but since it hasn’t started yet.
Feeling happy, I waved my hand slightly in return.

‘!!!!!!’

Mm.
The camera seemed to tremble like an aspen tree just now.
It’s probably just my imagination.
Actually, that fan….
I knew them well even back when I was Baek Nok-ha.
Their name was… Min-young, wasn’t it.

“It seems like they show up wherever you go.”
“Yeah. I’m grateful for that.”
“Didn’t they film half of your legendary fancams? The Manager told me they were originally famous within the Colors fandom.”
“Right. They probably run that Prism account.”

In my past life, they ran Prism, then created a new account under the name 【One Green Summer】.
Baek Nok-ha’s ‘Nok-ha’ uses the character for green and the character for summer.
That’s why 【Eternal Summer】 became my signature song.
I can’t even describe how shocked I was when I first saw them in this world.
When I was Baek Nok-ha.
When I was Yun Chung.
They recognized and loved me consistently through it all.
At first, I even entertained the ridiculous thought that they’d recognized who I really was.
But… maybe… it’s just that their taste in voices and songs has remained the same.
The saying about transcending all time and worlds….
Perhaps….

‘Thank you.’

Maybe it’s also a reference to all of you who love me.
I mouthed a thank you to the fan.
Then I gently patted Ryu Bora’s head.
Now I’m even remembering my fans.
I’ve really become an idol.

“You’re messing up my hair.”
“It doesn’t matter if your hair’s messed up or not—you look the same either way, so it’s fine.”
“What kind of thing is that to say.”
“If my hair gets messed up, it’s a disaster, but you’re fine…. Anyway, you’re fine.”
“Why do you keep saying weird things like that? Is it because you’re cold?”

Ha ha.
I laughed without any real substance to it.
Then I suddenly realized how quiet Seo Baek-young had become.

“Unnie?”
“Huh?”

Ah.
This person….

“Why are you so tense? Let’s relax your shoulders a bit.”
“I, I…. I’m, I’m not nervous?”
“….”

If you’re going to say something, at least don’t stammer through it….
I let out a small sigh.
The most carefree yet most timid among us.
The one who spent the longest as a trainee.
Which is why she’s the one who must have waited for this moment more than anyone.
Those who wait longer can only feel greater longing.

“At this rate, will you be okay with today’s special stage?”
“That part’s fine. We practiced a lot…!”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“If I… win an award, how do I say my acceptance speech…? If I don’t win… how do I manage my expression….”

She’s broken.
I poured water from a bottle and handed it to Seo Baek-young.

“If you’re that nervous, the fans will get nervous too.”
“!”

At those words, Seo Baek-young immediately went limp.
No.
I didn’t mean for her to relax that much.

“Whether I win or not, I’m still part of StillBlue anyway. What does it matter?”
“That’s true….”
“And I’ll have Ju-hong give the acceptance speech.”
“?!”
“Ju-hong’s been speaking really well lately, so it should be fine. If it really doesn’t work out, we’ll just have Ju-hong take the microphone.”
“I’m pretty sure I just heard my name?!”
“You’re imagining things.”

After we’d quietly come to some sort of agreement.
Seo Baek-young seemed to have relaxed a bit.
Well, honestly, despite what I said.
I know better than anyone that I’ll pull it off flawlessly.
After all, I was the one who nailed the acceptance speech back at Make a New Color.
Now it was my turn.
StillBlue had a total of four stages participating today.
One 【Eternal Summer】.
One maknae line stage with Yeon Ju-hong.
One girl group ensemble stage with me, Kim Geum, and Ryu Bora.
One main dancer line stage with Seo Baek-young.

“Alright, everyone, let’s go prepare for the special stages.”

I had to give my absolute best until the very end.
…Even if the mission failed.
At least I would know that I… had done my very best.
All that remained now was to hope earnestly.
It was beyond what I could control.

+

【Member Profile】

Name: Ryu Bora
Height: 170
Shoe Size: 235
Vision: L: 0.4 R: 0.4
Position: Sub Vocalist
Family: Mother, Father, Younger Brother
Education: Haneul Elementary School Graduate, Haneul Arts Middle School Graduate, GED
Birthday: December 17
Blood Type: B
Hobbies: Watching dramas/movies, Video creation
Motto: Protagonists can reach their happy endings because they face hardship

Name: Yeon Ju-hong
Height: 167
Shoe Size: 230
Vision: L: 1.1 R: 1.1
Position: Sub Vocalist
Family: Mother, Grandmother
Education: Lakevill Elementary, Transferred from Hyo-young Middle School, Haneul Arts Middle School Graduate, Sky Arts High School Dropout, GED
Birthday: August 17
Blood Type: O
Hobbies: Photography, Fashion coordination, Makeup
Motto: Just do what my older sisters tell me to!

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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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