Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 216

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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 8.

“What? No way. Absolutely not. Everyone’s waiting for my live performance.”
“We have the pre-recorded version. Just play that.”
“Is it… really that bad? Did I miss the beat?”

At Yun Chung’s repeated protests, Kim Geum asked with a deeply flustered expression.

“No. Your timing was perfect. You didn’t miss a single beat—it was flawless.”
“Then why? What’s the reason?”
“You’ve never performed on stage without in-ear monitors before. Let’s not take unnecessary risks. Play it safe. The fans already know your condition isn’t great. They’ll understand—”
“Chung-chung.”

Kim Geum gently grasped Yun Chung’s wrist. The tremor in that grip transmitted itself instantly, and Yun Chung fell silent.
Kim Geum was trembling.
She who never trembled even during the debut survival show.

“I’m the one among our members who has… nothing but skill, Chung-chung.”
“!”
“My fans don’t support me for any other reason. They only look at my skill and love me for that alone.”

What?
For a moment, Yun Chung doubted her own ears. She couldn’t believe that Kim Geum—of all people—harbored such thoughts.
To think she believed she was loved solely for her skill.
Yun Chung herself could list hundreds, no, thousands of Kim Geum’s charms off the top of her head.
Watching the wavering light in Kim Geum’s eyes, Yun Chung understood. Hearing loss hadn’t simply stolen the stage from Kim Geum.
The stage and music were the very foundation of her soul—they were everything to Kim Geum.
Now that they wavered, the unwavering confidence and steadfast pride Kim Geum had always possessed in herself trembled along with them.

“Geum, that doesn’t make sense. The fans—!”
“You have to know your place to survive in this industry.”

Kim Geum forced a smile.

“I heard. A new girl group from our Company is debuting soon.”
“!”
“If our push doesn’t decrease, I have to perform well, don’t I? This is the most critical time for us.”
“Just because you’re not doing one live performance doesn’t mean… absolutely not. Geum.”
“I don’t know about other companies, but ours isn’t like that.”

At those words, Yun Chung found herself at a loss for words.

“Colors monitors us so intensely that they blame the members for everything. The moment we show even the slightest hint of disappointment, they cut our push immediately.”
“….”

So Geum had been thinking this way all along. Yun Chung was speechless.
She had struggled so hard to keep the other members from bearing this kind of pressure.
That’s why she had worked so tirelessly to make Baek Ju-ha the representative.
Yet the fact that the members’ burden hadn’t lightened one bit made her head spin with vertigo.

“It’s not like that anymore, Geum. Ju-ha unnie and we-”
“That doesn’t mean I want the Company to go easy on us.”
“!”
“I don’t want that from the bottom of my heart. I want to compete fairly with my skills. It’s not like I can’t do live performances. I’m confident. Really. Just once… please trust me and let me do this.”

Geum said this and took a deep breath.

“I’m Geum.”

Those words struck Yun Chung with a bittersweet ache.
Because you’re Geum.
Yes, that’s why I trust you so deeply, but at the same time… that’s exactly why I don’t want to let you go out there.

*** 

The solo stage Geum chose was a song she had composed herself.
A personal solo track she had composed and performed back when she was a trainee.
At first, she had considered doing a cover stage. But she changed her mind because of her hearing loss.
She thought it best to perform a song she knew most intimately and felt most confident about.
She had worried the singing rap style might be a bit dated, but….
Instead, because the tempo wasn’t too fast, she felt she could keep the beat.
If the rap was too quick and she stumbled, there would be no bigger disaster than that.
Geum gripped the handheld microphone. Since the members had objected to her handling both the singing rap and choreography simultaneously, this was a genuine opportunity to focus solely on the rap.

‘Phew.’

I took a deep breath.
And before stepping onto the stage, I looked up at it from the stairs.
Ryu Bora was still performing up there.

‘What is this. Ryu Bora.’

…She’s really good. Seriously.
When did she improve this much? I marveled once more.
Today’s song choice for Ryu Bora was a hit OST from a drama she’d appeared in as a child actress.
There had been concerns about the risk since it was such a massive hit….
But contrary to those worries, Ryu Bora sang it beautifully.
Watching her perform like that—

‘Good.’

If Ryu Bora had been beside me right now, I would have told her.

‘Hey, Ryu Bora.’

Rubbing my face all over her shoulder.

‘Hey, you’re really good. It’s annoying.’

That’s what I would have said.
Then Ryu Bora probably would have answered like this.

‘You’re being ridiculous, acting like you’re not better than me.’

I could practically hear that voice so clearly that I let out a soft laugh.
Then.

“Let me just check your in-ear monitor before you go on.”

A staff member I’d never seen before came over and spoke while looking at my in-ear monitor.

“Oh, I—”
“I’ll play the sound for you now, so please let me know if you can hear it clearly.”
“No, I—”

I decided to go without the in-ear monitor.
Kim Geum’s eyes flickered for a moment.
It seemed this staff member hadn’t received the prior instructions.
Colors must have botched the arrangements again. Since that fact wasn’t particularly surprising, Kim Geum simply laughed awkwardly.

“Please let me know if the volume is too loud.”
“….”

Even so, sound continued to come through the in-ear monitor. With only one frequency, what reached my ear was Ryu Bora’s voice from the stage.
Normally, an in-ear monitor plays the backing track through one channel and the singer’s own voice through the other.
It seemed the in-ear on my better hearing ear was the vocalist’s voice channel.
Ryu Bora’s voice, coming through crystal clear without the backing track, stirred my chest in an oddly unsettling way.
At the same time, an impulse surged through my mind—just go up there with the sound on.
I could perform so much better on stage with the in-ear monitor.
It would only be for a brief moment anyway.

“Is there a problem? Is there anything you’d like me to adjust?”
“It’s just…”

But keeping the in-ear monitor on would be breaking my promise with the members.
Kim Geum looked once at Ryu Bora on stage, and once at the five thousand fans standing across from her.
The members.
And the fans.

‘Ugh. This is frustrating. Feeling like I have to choose between one or the other.’

But Kim Geum had known the answer from the very beginning.

“Turn off the in-ear monitor.”
“Pardon?”
“Turn the sound off completely. I shouldn’t hear anything at all.”

Keeping my promise to the members was absolutely not the same as breaking my promise to the fans.
I just had to perform well.

‘Lee, Ryu Bora.’

Kim Geum watched Ryu Bora glittering on the Stage, and couldn’t help but purse her lips.

‘When you pull off something this incredible, how can I possibly hold back, you crazy thing.’

***

Did Kim Geum receive some divine blessing or something

She’s insanely good ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Hey haters who were trashing Maple, are you watching this?

So this is Kim Geum…
This is an unreleased track, right?

Please put this on the full album
Please put this on the full album
Do you know what three things are trending right now?

The flu
Kim Geum
Kim Geum

She’s just a goddess
★
Please stop I can’t take it anymore Geum please stop~!~!!~~!~!~!
From now on I’m treating Kim Geum and myself as one body if Kim Geum falls I die or whatever blah blah
Kim Geum, my love,
Kim Geum, my light.
Kim Geum, my soul.
Blah blah… Kim Geum is absolutely insane,,
Kim Geum hold me,,, please hold me,,,, hurry and hold me,,,,
I ended up holding Kim Geum tight,, and with her condition being rough how did she pull off such an incredible stage,,
Right now the whole world must feel like it’s yours, right? Wait five years
└The whole universe will be yours
└└It’s already Kim Geum’s universe starting today

Kim Deputy smiled faintly as she watched the timeline exploding with reactions.
Of course the response would explode.
Geum’s performance just now was absolutely insane.
From beginning to end, there wasn’t a single part worth cutting. She even performed without her in-ear monitor in the middle, seemingly frustrated, yet not a single note wavered—it was flawless.

‘My girl… she’s the best.’

Kim Deputy thought once more that she’d made the right call buying all the fan meet merchandise today.
More than anything.

‘Geum’s face was so radiant.’

Kim Deputy looked at the photos of Geum she’d carefully taken on her phone today.
There she was—Geum on stage, smiling more brightly than anyone else.

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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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