Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 215

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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 7.

Kim Deputy clutched her heart as she watched StillBlue perform for the first time in a while.
Following their opening stage of “Blue,” their “Fairy tale?” performance was absolutely flawless.

‘Wait, Kim Geum, Kim Geum. She said her condition was poor, but she’s flying out there?’

She’d gotten plenty of rest, so her body must have recovered.
Kim Deputy felt her anxiety ease slightly as she watched Kim Geum smile brightly. As Kim Geum’s ultimate bias, she hadn’t been sleeping properly these days.
Just recently, she’d heard that Kim Geum had been rushed to the Emergency Room, yet the notice Colors posted offered no clear explanation—only the vague phrase “poor condition.”
All the fans knew the truth. It was extremely rare for idols to end up in the Emergency Room over something as ordinary as “poor condition.”
So everyone was spinning wild theories on their secret SNS accounts—did she get injured during practice, did she reaggravate that old leg injury, or did she even collapse? The speculation was endless.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
It would have been fine if everyone just worried about her, but in the shadows, the most vicious rumors circulated.
Was the next album being delayed because of Kim Geum? The fan meeting quality would suffer. If it got cancelled, it would be all Kim Geum’s fault. And on and on.
It went even further—wasn’t it funny that only Kim Geum kept getting sick? Health management is a professional’s responsibility. Some even said they were genuinely annoyed that only she kept getting ill.

‘As if she wants to be sick.’

Health management is a job? What, do they think they’ll never get sick in their entire lives?!
Every time Kim Deputy heard such comments, she felt her blood boil so intensely she wanted to collapse, clutching the back of her neck.
Not all StillBlue fans loved every member equally. Individual member fandoms were growing steadily.
Since most new fans now entered through individual fancams, it was arguably an inevitable result.

‘I wish those toxic fans would just disappear from Earth.’

Was having an individual bias bad? Absolutely not.
But individual fans who viciously attacked other members? That was perfect for poisoning the fandom atmosphere.

‘The ones who know better are always the ones who criticize harder.’

Toxic fans knew the members far better than ordinary antis, so they crafted malicious rumors with far greater credibility (even though it was all lies), and they knew exactly which vulnerabilities would wound other fans’ hearts, so they attacked with devastating precision.

‘To think I’d feel like leaving the fandom because of fellow fans.’

Even Kim Deputy, whose fandom ran so deep, had briefly wavered—wondering if she should abandon her support because of this Minus Flow, or “Maflow” as it was called.
For several days, the atmosphere within the fandom was nothing short of devastated.
But then.

‘Once I see today’s performance, all those haters’ nonsense will finally shut up for a while.’

My girl is so talented.
My girl is the best.

[Cha-yul: StillBlue, it’s been quite a gap, hasn’t it?]
[Yun Chung: Yes, it was a bit long for us. We were preparing such a perfect… album that we fell behind schedule.]
[Ju-hong: We’re really sorry to all our fans…]
[Baek-young: We know you’ve waited so long. But we’ll come back with even better quality because of it.]
[Cha-yul: Good. Even I, StillBlue’s number one fan, am excited. The next album will naturally be a full-length release, right?]
[Yun Chung: Yes, that’s correct.]

At Yun Chung’s refreshing confirmation, the fans erupted in cheers.

[Cha-yul: Wow, did you all hear that? The cheers are absolutely incredible.]
[Yun Chung: Haha. Thank you. Since we’re preparing it as a full-length album, it seems like it took time to compose quality tracks.]
[Bora: Yun Chung and Geum have been working on songs every single night.]

Kim Deputy looked at Geum with a pained expression.
Of course the girl gets sick when she’s pulling all-nighters!
It’s fine if it takes longer—please, Geum, stop staying up all night and work at a more relaxed pace!

[Cha-yul: Could you give us a little spoiler? Oh, will the staff come after me for this?]
[Ju-hong: They really will. We’re in trouble.]
[Bora: I got scolded before coming here today too. Don’t spoil anything, they said.]
[Cha-yul: Come on, the company people have no sense. This is when you need to drop some hints to make it fun. Just a little? Geum?]

As Cha-yul glanced at Geum, she grasped the microphone with a noticeably tense expression.

‘Geum seems unusually nervous today.’

Kim Deputy found it slightly odd, but let it pass.
She’d been sick for so long—perhaps she was worried about making mistakes.
…Now that I think about it, she does seem quieter than usual today.

[Geum: Actually, it’s us. We’ve finished most of the album tracks, but we can’t find a title track we’re satisfied with… That’s why things are running a bit behind.]
[Yun Chung: We want to show you a new side of us. We’re always striving to be a StillBlue that develops every single day. Haha.]
[Cha-yul: You’re already incredible as it is—how much more of a goddess do you want to become?]

The talk continued a bit longer after that.
But.
The more the conversation went on, the more the fans began to sense something off.
And they were all thinking the exact same thing.

‘Geum… is different from usual.’

***

★
but gg was kinda weird today
gg was seriously off lolololol she usually can’t keep up but today she didn’t say a word

‘gg’ was a search-avoidance nickname for Geum. The context went like this: 【Geum】-【G.G】-.

★
is gg actually sick lolol?
didn’t look sick when she was on stage tho she’s being so dramatic
ugh she really killed the vibe lololol open your mouth; do we fans really have to manage you like this?
The members really had such sharp instincts, it was so sad…
it’s not her body that’s sick it’s her personality that’s sick
it’s been so long since we had a stage and ugh… the vibe got ruined because of one person and it was so good
if you’re gonna be like this just don’t come lololol there’s not a single person who wants to see you
Come on, please understand how we feel too—we have to deal with your acting.
don’t force yourself to come out—just quit instead~ then you could rest properly so i don’t get why you don’t do it

In reality, Geum hadn’t actually dampened the atmosphere at the venue.
Of course, the members had been anxious about whether Geum might mishear a question, but she’d handled everything with such wit that everyone had gradually begun to relax.
And the performance itself was flawless, needless to say.
But when just one or two people posted these opinions on SNS, hundreds and thousands of reactions poured in from people who hadn’t even attended the fan meeting.
And.

‘…This is going to be a big problem.’

A brief moment of rest.
I was monitoring the real-time reactions.
I slipped away quietly and called over one of the managers—the one who primarily looked after Kim Geum.

“Unnie.”
“Hmm? Chung, what’s wrong?”
“Geum’s phone is with you, right?”
“It’s with me.”

Thank goodness. I didn’t have to dig through her bag.

“Can you hide it somewhere? Just keep her from checking SNS.”
“Why? Geum doesn’t usually search for that stuff anyway, does she?”
“She normally doesn’t, but ever since she got sick recently, she’s been checking constantly. I think she’s worried.”
“Is there some malicious rumor going around right now? Geum usually handles things well—what kind of rumor could it be? Don’t tell me it’s about her not having many lines today?”
“…There is one going around. So please, don’t let her see anything until the fan meeting ends.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

Kim Geum’s manager knew her tendency to hide her true feelings better than anyone else, so she answered with absolute certainty.
And at the same time, she began making a call to somewhere—clearly requesting the Company check public sentiment.
Then.

“Chung-chung!”

Kim Geum had found me.

“Oh, Geum. What is it?”
“My solo stage is coming up next. Can you check my pitch with me? I’m worried I might make a mistake.”
“Sure, I’ll check. Go ahead and sing.”

Kim Geum would wear an in-ear monitor on stage, but the members had agreed to keep it completely silent to protect her hearing as much as possible.
The members’ final condition was that if she had to hear the in-ear monitor, she wouldn’t go on stage, and Kim Geum had accepted it.
But anyone who has ever stood on stage knows how difficult it is to perform live without an in-ear monitor.
The venue’s backing track is transmitted with a slight delay, so even the smallest amount of time causes the rhythm to lag.
That’s why performers wear in-ear monitors—to keep the rhythm tight. But without one, it becomes incredibly difficult to stay on beat.
That’s why Kim Geum had been practicing obsessively—to maintain perfect rhythm even without the in-ear monitor.

“How was it? Did it sound okay?”

Yun Chung listened to Geum’s entire song before finally finding the words to speak.

“Geum. Even now, let’s just… give up on the live performance.”

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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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