Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 23

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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 23.

Production Crew: How did all of this happen?

[Lee Ju-seon: ….]
[Caption: Lee Ju-seon, unable to find her words]
[Caption: Eventually breaking into tears….]
[Lee Ju-seon: The truth is, I’ve been struggling emotionally from the very beginning.]

Lee Ju-seon’s image on screen was the very picture of pathos.
Perhaps because she’d always maintained such a gentle and pitiable image, the tears only made her appear more heartbreaking.

[Lee Ju-seon: The other team members and I have such different images that I think we clashed from the moment we started deciding on a concept.]

Following Lee Ju-seon’s words, the scene shifted.
This footage was an edited version from before the broadcast aired.
The video captured the moment when they were first deciding on a concept.
Scattered moments of silence had been compiled through devilish editing, making their relationship appear absolutely terrible.

[Lee Ju-seon: At first, Yun Chung and Geum suggested a sporty concept. Up to that point… even though it wasn’t my own idea, I still thought I should work hard. It wasn’t just my stage, so I wanted to cooperate well….]

Lee Ju-seon spoke while barely wiping away her tears.

[Lee Ju-seon: But then Ju-hong suggested adding a ** and ***ish concept, and maybe incorporating a slight *** feeling. From that point on, I started wondering if I could even pull it off…. Even when I showed signs of struggling, my teammates just… didn’t seem to care at all.]

Production Crew: But in the end, you did accept it, didn’t you?

[Lee Ju-seon: It’s a group activity, so I thought I just had to endure it myself….]

Production Crew: Then what triggered the problem?

[Lee Ju-seon: I’m the one in charge of choreography, but they asked me to help Ju-hong and create the concept together. I appealed that just conceptualizing the choreography would be difficult enough….]

Lee Ju-seon began to sniffle again.
The Production Crew handed her a tissue.

[Lee Ju-seon: Thank you….]

Production Crew: Don’t cry. Try taking slow, deep breaths.

[Ju-seon: Still, I decided I’d just hold it in myself… if I could just endure it, that would be enough… thinking that way, Yeon Ju-hong and I went to Dongdaemun Market to look at costumes….]

***

“What do you think of this one, unnie?”

Yeon Ju-hong absolutely loved shopping for clothes.
Even among the other trainees, she had a reputation for dressing well.
For her, the concept position was thrilling in every way.
Especially since the concept they’d decided on was perfectly tailored to Yeon Ju-hong’s taste.
Yun Chung’s idea of sporty, combined with Yeon Ju-hong’s idea of ‘that’.
Together, they seemed like they’d get a great response.

“I found a few movies on the way here that would work well as concept references. Unnie, do you happen to know the movie 0000?”

In truth, Yeon Ju-hong didn’t care much for Lee Ju-seon.
She disliked how uncooperative she was, and how her eyes remained blank no matter what was said.
But she understood why Yun Chung and Geum had insisted on bringing Lee Ju-seon along.
Officially, it was to have Lee Ju-seon help her, but that wasn’t really the case.
Look at those eyes. They weren’t the eyes of someone here to help others.

‘It’s obvious she doesn’t like the concept… so just let her pick clothes she actually likes.’

The unnies were too kind to say it outright.
Yeon Ju-hong rolled her eyes.
Still, she endured it.
Not for Lee Ju-seon’s sake, but for her unnies’.

“Unnie?”

But Lee Ju-seon seemed barely interested, if at all.
She appeared focused solely on picking out her own clothes.
That’s when Yeon Ju-hong’s patience began to fray.

“Hm?”
“What do you think of this kind of concept?”
“Oh… it’s fine.”

Lee Ju-seon gave only perfunctory responses in front of the camera before turning her attention back to selecting her outfit.
Eventually, Yeon Ju-hong’s cheeks began to puff up more and more.

‘Kim Geum unnie…! Yun Chung unnie…! When this is over, you have to buy me pork ribs…! At least pork ribs…!’

In the end, Yeon Ju-hong gave up.
She decided to just choose her own outfit instead.

“Unnie, while you’re choosing your outfit, I’ll pick outfits for the other unnies! We don’t have that much time anyway.”
“Sure, sure. Good idea.”
“But if you need my help, just call me right away!”
“I will.”

Yeon Ju-hong decided to choose Kim Geum’s outfit first.
There was no particular reason—she simply thought Kim Geum would suit the concept best.

“Whose outfit are you picking?”
“Oh, Geum unnie’s outfit!”
“Ah… Geum first?”
“Yes, yes.”

Yeon Ju-hong assumed Lee Ju-seon would understand on her own and began browsing the accessories.
And she found an accessory that seemed made for Kim Geum.

‘This is amazing. Even that fierce Kim Geum unnie would definitely praise this accessory…!’

Yeon Ju-hong picked up the accessory with a beaming smile.
But then,

“Ju-hong, what do you think of this?”

Lee Ju-seon held out the outfit she had chosen.

“Oh, that one…?”

Yeon Ju-hong looked at the outfit Lee Ju-seon had brought and thought.

‘This won’t cut it for just pork ribs… I need to get her to buy me short ribs instead….’

To that extent, what Lee Ju-seon had brought didn’t match the concept at all.
She alone had chosen something excessively pure and innocent.

“It’s pretty, but isn’t it a bit bland? Our concept is—”
“But I’m not sure if I fit well with our concept… Isn’t this level acceptable?”

Lee Ju-seon made the most pitiful expression as she appealed to Yeon Ju-hong.
Yeon Ju-hong was truly at a loss. It felt like she should say no, but if she did, she’d seem like a terrible person.
Yet if she said yes, it would be a dereliction of her duty as the concept coordinator.
A truly impossible situation.

“Then… how about we keep that outfit, but I choose the accessories?”
“Yes! Okay!”

Once her opinion was accepted, Lee Ju-seon finally broke into a bright smile.
Yeon Ju-hong set down Kim Geum’s accessories with an uneasy heart.
Then she searched for accessories that could somehow make Lee Ju-seon’s outfit fit the concept better.
After several minutes had passed.
Yeon Ju-hong managed to find several accessories she was pleased with.
Ugh, this ability of mine.
Yeon Ju-hong felt proud of herself as she showed the accessories to Lee Ju-seon.

“Unnie, what about something like this?”
“Hmm…”

Lee Ju-seon only laughed awkwardly, showing no particular reaction.
It meant she didn’t like them.
Yeon Ju-hong was somewhat hurt.
But she didn’t give up and showed Lee Ju-seon accessories as she found them.

“What about this one?!”
“Ha ha.”
“What about this?! This one is seriously amazing.”
“Hmm…!”
“Unnie! This one is seriously something you have to like…!”
“I’m not sure…”

Eventually, Yeon Ju-hong realized that Lee Ju-seon had no intention of listening to her at all.

“Sister, would you like to pick out accessories on your own too?”
“Sure!”

If you were going to do this, you could have said something from the start.
Yeon Ju-hong felt her frustration exploding, but she held it back.

“Then I’ll go pick out accessories for the other sisters.”
“Mm-hmm.”

And so Yeon Ju-hong set off to find Kim Geum’s outfit again, where she’d left off earlier.
Then she found that accessory she’d discovered before.
Looking at it again, it was such a perfect match for Kim Geum.
But then,

“Ju-hong, whose is that?”
“Oh, this is Geum’s sister’s….”
“Can’t I wear that? It’s so pretty! You really do have an eye for these things, Ju-hong?”

As if that were possible.
She’d chosen this accessory with Kim Geum specifically in mind.
How happy she’d been when she found it…!

“Um… this one….”

Yeon Ju-hong eventually nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Then shall we try it on you to see if it suits you, sister?”
“Yeah, yeah. Let me try it on. How do I look?”

It really doesn’t suit you, sister….
From the start, Kim Geum and Lee Ju-seon had completely opposite images.
There was no way it would work….
But Yeon Ju-hong couldn’t bring herself to tell Lee Ju-seon that it truly didn’t suit her.

“I think that one from before would look better… Is this really the one you like the most, sister?”
“Yes!”
“I see….”
“Should I wear it?”

Lee Ju-seon cheerfully took the accessory from Yeon Ju-hong’s hands.
Though “took” was the polite way to put it—in reality, she’d simply snatched it away.
Yeon Ju-hong was beginning to feel the strain.

‘I want to go home…!’

***

Production Crew: Still, it seems like trainee Yeon Ju-hong made quite a few concessions, doesn’t it?

[Ju-seon: I thought so too. That’s why I was so grateful. But I guess that wasn’t actually the case.]

Lee Ju-seon hung her head like a criminal.

***

In the end, Yeon Ju-hong set off to find different accessories after having the ones she’d painstakingly selected stolen from her.
But with each piece she discovered, Lee Ju-seon began to covet it.

“Didn’t I already pick out earrings for you…?”
“Yeah, but this is pretty too, and those were pretty as well. What do I do…? Ju-hong is really amazing. Everything you find is so beautiful.”

Yeon Ju-hong was weak to compliments.

“Then… please take whichever one you want, unnie.”
“So I can go with this?”
“It doesn’t seem to match well with the necklace. Don’t you think you’d have to give up one or the other?”
“How could they not match if I style it right?”

What exactly did she mean by ‘style it right’?
Yeon Ju-hong was growing increasingly exhausted.

“Unnie, I’ve picked out all your accessories now… so this time, let me choose something for unnie Kim Geum.”
“But Ju-hong.”
“Yes?”

Yeon Ju-hong blinked her wide eyes.
Lee Ju-seon’s tone had suddenly turned cold.

“Why do you keep bringing up Geum since earlier…?”

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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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