Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 211

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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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Episode 3.

“I’m back.”

After finishing her conversation with Baek Ju-ha, I returned to the Dormitory.

“Yun Chung!”

A familiar face was waiting for me.

“Mom?”

My eyes widened at the unexpected sight. What on earth was my mother doing here?
I glanced between my mother and the members contentedly munching on the apple she’d peeled for them.
Ryu Bora, didn’t you storm out angry just a moment ago? When did you come back and start eating apples?

“Mom, what brings you here…?”
“Goodness! I heard my child was sick! How could I not come!”

She came because she heard Kim Geum was ill?

“Wait, who told you that?”
“It’s already spread through all our parents’ group chat, you silly girl.”

A parents’ group chat exists?
Hearing this for the first time in my life, my pupils trembled with bewilderment.

“We sent you young ones out into this harsh world, so of course we’ve already gotten to know each other. Baek Ju-ha connected us all, and we stay in touch whenever we can.”
“I see….”

Newly impressed by Baek Ju-ha’s remarkable abilities, I sat down at the table with the members.

“Your mom made us dinner and we’re eating apples now! Your mom is the best~!”

Yeon Ju-hong giggled and linked arms with my mother.

“Your mother is an amazing cook, Yun Chung.”

Seo Baek-young smiled warmly as she spoke.
And naturally, all eyes…

“….”

turned toward Ryu Bora.
It was a look that asked: after getting so angry earlier, have you calmed down a bit now?

“…It was truly delicious. Thank you so much.”

Ryu Bora spoke, her cheeks flushed slightly.
Still, her courtesy toward adults was impeccable.

“Your mother brought pumpkin syrup for Geum to drink, and so many side dishes too. Since Geum’s parents will be staying here for a while, they’ll need plenty of banchan. And since sudden sensorineural hearing loss depends heavily on blood circulation, I made walnut brittle and brought tomato juice as well…”

My mother pulled out an abundance of side dishes from the insulated bag and filled StillBlue’s refrigerator.
There was so much that the large refrigerator was completely full in no time.
If I had prepared all this for myself, I would have told her not to do it next time, but knowing it was for Kim Geum, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

“Here, our Yun Chung. Mother made omija syrup, so let’s all share it. I made plenty.”
“You can just buy it…. Why do you keep making it?”
“Is store-bought the same as what your mother makes? You’re such a child.”

She simply closed the refrigerator door, muttering about taking care of my health, how pushing too hard while young would cause serious problems, how I needed to be really careful to have a long career and stay connected with fans, to eat well—

“Thank you, Mom. I’ll make sure Geum gets everything.”

I hugged her tightly.

***

“I’m heading home now. Take good care of Geum. Understood?”
“Yes. Don’t worry and go home to rest. Are you really sure I don’t need to drive you?”
“It’s just the next neighborhood over. If you come outside, it’ll be too noisy. I’ll just take a taxi home—it won’t take long.”
“Understood.”

And so my mother left as suddenly as she had arrived.
I watched the spot where she had been for a moment, then turned around.

“Bora.”
“!”
“Feeling better?”

Ryu Bora’s lips trembled slightly. The hesitation in her expression suggested she had plenty to say but couldn’t quite bring herself to say it.

“…I’m sorry.”
“Hm?”
“For getting angry. I’m sorry.”

At Ryu Bora’s slowly emerging apology, all the members blinked their eyes very rapidly.

“Wow, Bora knows how to apologize?! Is, is the world ending tomorrow…?”
“Bora, you’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“Everyone, move aside.”

Laughing and rushing toward her, the members watched as Ryu Bora quickly fled.
Such a shy one.

“Kim Geum ate the beef porridge well, apparently. Ju-ha said so.”
“…Really?”

Still, at the news of Kim Geum, Ryu Bora stopped immediately.
Idiot.

“That was made by Bora!”
“Right. But it’s amazing Kim Geum ate what Bora made and didn’t get assass—”
“Excuse me, Seo Baek-young.”

There it was. The way Bora addresses Seo Baek-young when she’s annoyed these days.
It sounds like she can’t quite drop the honorific because they’re sisters, which somehow makes it even funnier.

“But Kim Geum came out of her room?! How?!”
“Her mother just unlocked the door and went in.”
“….”

A brief silence fell among the members.
I’ll pretend not to hear Ryu Bora muttering, “I should’ve done that from the start.”

“Anyway. Geum’s father sent a message earlier asking if we could all have dinner together tomorrow. He said he’d grill beef for Geum.”
“Wow. That sounds amazing.”
“We should be the ones grilling it, not him.”

While the members were chatting away like that.

“How much hearing did Kim Geum lose?”
“!”

Ryu Bora deliberately brought up the question the other members had been carefully avoiding.

“The results came back already. Everyone just didn’t ask about it.”
“….”
“Since Kim Geum is so anxious about it, I’ll just assume she can’t hear. But I need to know.”

Under Ryu Bora’s gaze, Yun Chung’s lips parted heavily.

“One ear can’t hear at all.”
“!”
“The other ear isn’t that bad. Even though it feels muffled, she can hear a little bit, they said.”
“…So the eardrum injection—that was it, right? They said it still hasn’t taken effect?”

She was referring to the steroid injection. In the early stages, they’d said that steroid treatment was the most important. And yesterday had been the second injection.

“The tinnitus has reduced a bit… but it seems more treatment is needed.”
“They don’t know the cause?”
“There are too many possible causes.”
“!”

At those words, all the members’ expressions hardened in unison.

“Geum’s lifestyle has been irregular all along because of our schedule. She’s been frequently exposed to loud noise, and she’s been under a lot of stress. All of those things could be causes. They told her to avoid all of that for a while.”
“…But those are things that come with being an idol.”
“That’s true.”
“So does that mean Kim Geum has to retire?”

No one could answer that question.
Not even Yun Chung, who always had a clear answer.

***

“The problem is the schedules that are already in place.”

Colors headquarters, 3 label conference room.
Colors Entertainment Headquarters, Label 3’s Conference Room.

“I tried to keep it a secret as much as possible that Geum went to the emergency room a while ago, but…”
“We tried to keep it secret when Geum went to the Emergency Room not long ago, but….”

The fact that Kim Geum had gone to the emergency room had already spread widely, as another patient at the hospital took a picture of Geum Kim the moment she briefly appeared and posted it to the community.

“But the name of the disease has not been leaked yet. The notice only said that he went due to poor physical condition. As you all know… Geum was very clear that he did not want his illness known.”

Since Kim Geum had already injured his leg once, he was well aware of the repercussions of having his condition revealed to the outside world.
Kim Geum already knew well the fallout from when her leg injury had caused her condition to leak to the outside world before.
She also understood that whenever ‘bad news’ spread on social media, it dealt an enormous blow to the group.
And all the members agreed. The next album was already slightly delayed, and if news of Geum being sick leaked out in this situation….
It was obvious who some people would blame.
StillBlue’s fanbase, Ever Blue, had a generally strong all-fan oriented tendency overall… but you couldn’t say there were no individual fans.
And there were plenty of people trying to bash StillBlue no matter what.

“…We prepared two plans: a plan assuming that Kim Geum would recover quickly, and a plan assuming that Kim Geum would not recover soon.”

3 The head of the label planning team cautiously opened his mouth.
The Label 3 planning team lead spoke carefully.
However, those words hit the members hard. The very fact that they’d made a plan assuming she wouldn’t recover quickly stung.

“If it recovers quickly, the next album will only be pushed back for a month or two, so I don’t think there will be any major changes. Mr. Cheong can work on the album songs as he has done so far, and the company will direct accordingly. From what I heard, all the b-side songs have already been released and only the title song has not been released yet… Is that correct?”
“If she recovers within a short timeframe, it looks like we’d only have the next album delayed by a month or two, so there shouldn’t be major changes. Just continue the album track work as you have been, and the company will proceed with directing accordingly. From what I’ve heard, all the B-side candidates are already done and only the title track is still pending… is that correct?”

All the songs were not created by Yun Cheong alone. Each one was a song created together with Kim Geum. Therefore, Yun Cheong deliberately spoke indirectly, as he had no intention of deciding on this matter without Kim Geum.

“…Good. Then we can prepare as soon as we finish working on the song.”
“…Understood. Then we can prepare quickly once the track work is finished.”

At Ryu Bo-ra’s sharp voice, the faces of the working staff hardened.

“…you’re right.”
“…That’s correct.”

Yeon Yeon-hong asked with an anxious face.

“We should focus on the members’ individual activities. For example….”

The planning team leader looked at Seo Baek-young and Yoon Cheong and continued speaking.

“Something like solo album promotions.”

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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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