Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 230

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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 22.

That night.

“…Ju-hong started composing?!”

Kim Geum was utterly astonished by the news and repeated it back in disbelief.

“Yeah. Surprising, right? I thought Ju-hong had no real interest in composing.”
“How did she end up on such a treacherous path.”
“….”

Yun Chung wanted to refute the word “treacherous,” but she hated that she couldn’t bring herself to deny it.

“I’m worried.”
“Why?”
“What if Ju-hong gets stressed like I do and collapses? Our maknae is already….”

Kim Geum trailed off, searching for the right words before giving up.
No matter how hard she thought about it, “Yeon Ju-hong” and “weakness” were utterly incompatible concepts, making it impossible to find any similar descriptor.

“Right, you admit Ju-hong’s strong too, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“She’s the maknae, but Ju-hong is strong. Maybe the strongest among us. It’s just that her way of being strong is a bit different from ours.”

Yun Chung momentarily recalled Yeon Ju-hong from her Baek Nok-ha days.
…She really was strong. In every way.
Thank goodness she’s not in that rebellious mode anymore….

“Don’t worry—let’s support her. The fact that she told only you and not the other members means—”
“You want me to quietly keep tabs on the work, right? Got it.”
“Nice, we’re on the same wavelength.”

The two of them chuckled softly and bumped their fists together lightly.
Then.

“Chung-chung~!”

The door swung open, and the members came pouring in like a flood.

“?!”
“Let’s go out!”

I was momentarily flustered by the members’ sudden arrival when Yeon Ju-hong called out brightly.

“Go out? Now?”
“Yes!”

It was midnight.
All the members had rushed back to the hotel the moment rehearsal ended and collapsed into sleep….
It was good that they’d slept deeply and regained their energy, but where were they trying to go at this hour?

“Where to?”
“To eat sashimi!”
“…?”

Sashimi…?
Yun Chung looked at Ryu Bora, Yeon Ju-hong, and Seo Baek-young in turn.
The eyes of all three burned with an almost feverish passion for sashimi.
No matter how I looked at it, these three women seemed like they’d only ever eat morning dew in some mountain forest… but they loved sashimi this much?

“Tuna sashimi, Chung-chung.”
“!”

Then Ryu Bora opened her mouth.

“This time, I think we might actually be able to afford tuna sashimi instead of tuna kimbap.”

The other members tilted their heads in confusion at her words, but Yun Chung understood immediately.

“I see.”

A strange sense of emotion washed over me.

“Now I can actually buy myself some premium tuna sashimi.”
“Only the most expensive cuts for me.”
“Looks like you’ve made some money?”
“Not really.”

Not really? Come on, seriously.
The members stared at Ryu Bora in disbelief. Just the personal advertisements you filmed this year alone—do you have any idea how much that adds up to?!

“I need to earn more.”
“!”

An ambitious doe indeed…!

“Which is why we can’t retire. We’ll have to keep doing dinner shows until we’re a hundred.”
“….”

Maybe this girl was even more relentless than the Cotton Ball Entity.

***

“Wow. I feel like my stomach’s about to burst!”

Watching Yeon Ju-hong rub her barely-protruding belly, the members let out amused chuckles.

“Bora unnie, is it really okay to spend money like this?!”
“…That much is fine.”

Ryu Bora reached up and gently tapped Yeon Ju-hong’s head with her chin.

“W-why, why, why…?”
“Eat more next time.”
“Oh, oh, oh, is this a death threat if I don’t eat more…?”

At Yeon Ju-hong’s theatrical response, Ryu Bora shook her head, then suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“What?”
“Let’s go there.”

Where is that?
All the members turned to look in the direction Ryu Bora’s finger was pointing.
There stood the stage where StillBlue had rehearsed earlier.
The stage and countless chairs spread across the beach.
The sight looked different at night, but… she wanted to go there?

“Why?”

Kim Geum asked on behalf of everyone.

“Because I want to.”

Ryu Bora’s terse answer carried layers of meaning beneath it.
Do you have a problem with me wanting to go? Are you saying you won’t go if I want to? If I want to go, isn’t that reason enough? What else do you need?
Faced with Ryu Bora’s fierce gaze, the members didn’t ask further and quietly moved their feet.
That girl might not even be an idol. She seems to have some far more dangerous profession.
After a brief walk like that.
Soon all five members found themselves standing before the chairs scattered about.
They glanced around, hoping someone might be guarding the place, but given the hour, no one was watching.
A few passersby were out, but they were simply taking an evening stroll, sitting here and there to gaze at the sea.

“…It’s strange.”

All five of them felt oddly moved, looking at the stage that had been so hectic during the day’s rehearsal, now viewing it from these empty seats in the dead of night.
Perhaps because of this, all five members sat down in the chairs and gazed at the stage once, then at the sea once more.
No one spoke, yet it wasn’t complete silence either.
The gentle sound of waves continued to fill the space between them.

“….”

Yun Chung gazed at the moonlit shimmer dancing across the water and the lights of Gwangan Bridge still burning in the distance.
Then she glanced at her members.
They all seemed lost in their own contemplation, all looking in the same direction.
She liked that.
Being able to look at the same place together like this.
They were probably all thinking different thoughts, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were all looking at the same thing.
In that moment,

“You know, unnie,”

Yeon Ju-hong suddenly pulled out her phone.

“Huh?”

Then she played a song softly.

“Um, would it be okay if I sang a song?!”

A song?
Though we were momentarily taken aback by the unexpected request, all the members simply nodded. Our thoughtful maknae was going to sing for us—thank you indeed.
Yeon Ju-hong smiled brightly and began to sing softly along with the accompaniment.
Quietly enough that only the five members could hear.

Over the moonlight
Under the neon lights
Another night, another day’s end

Hearing the song for the first time, all the members stared at Yeon Ju-hong with wide eyes.

‘Ju-hong is… singing!’

The maknae’s voice, who always said she wasn’t quite confident about singing, was now flowing so crystalline toward the night sea.

Over the Sunshine
Under the stage lights
Another repeating day, once again

With the gentle melody, the members were all astonished by the song that spread so purely, without artifice.
Yun Chung and Kim Geum, who already knew that Yeon Ju-hong was composing, felt a sense of surprise at how she had created such a tranquil song and performed it so beautifully.
The other members seemed simply shocked by all of it.

In your light,
I feel like the dark
I want to shine just like you

Yet the members refrained from showing their emotions so as not to disturb Yeon Ju-hong’s singing, simply listening quietly to her voice.
They could not help but listen intently.
Yeon Ju-hong’s song was that beautiful.

Sometimes,
may I shine for you?
Sometimes,
can I be your light?
Through the countless dark nights that return,
I want to be even a small flame.

Yun Chung found herself focusing on the melody rather than the lyrics when she suddenly realized something.
Right now the melody was important, yes—but

On days you waver,
I’ll be your light.
If you need me,
I’ll be firelight
When your light flickers and wavers,
I’ll shine in your place.

These lyrics—this was what Yeon Ju-hong truly wanted to say.
And that sincerity—

When your light flickers and wavers,
I’ll shine in your place.

It resonated so profoundly that all the members fell silent, unable to utter a word.
They simply watched Yeon Ju-hong singing softly with a gentle smile on her face.
Because that alone was happiness.

***

On the way back.

“Ju-hong.”
“Yes?”
“Listen.”

Kim Geum placed a hand on Yeon Ju-hong’s shoulder and opened her mouth with a very serious expression.

“Yes, yes…?”
“You have real talent, so become our composition sla— mmph!”
“Ignore her, Ju-hong.”
“Wait, I’m pretty sure I just heard something absolutely unignorable…?!!?”
“No, no. Just ignore it. Geum made a mistake.”

Yun Chung quietly clamped her hand over Kim Geum’s mouth and dragged her away.
Geum.
That’s not very professional of you.
You’re supposed to keep these things quiet and just make them happen.

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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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