Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 40

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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 40.

“….”
“….”

This silence now—what was going on?
It was the silence of the Vocal Team, gathered in an emergency crisis meeting.
Lee Gyeong-a’s heart sank when she caught the faint glimmer of tears in my eyes, and she immediately summoned Ryu Bora.
Ryu Bora had been pulled away mid-vocal practice and now sat in the Practice Room.
Ryu Bora said little. She pretended indifference, but she was remarkably perceptive.
The moment she walked in, she would have sensed that something had happened.

“Look, I’m not exactly the leader of this team… but as the senior, I can’t just ignore conflict like this.”

Lee Gyeong-a already knew about the tension between Lee Ju-seon and Team Four Season.
And as a trainee, she understood what would happen if such conflict wasn’t properly addressed.

“Jo Hee-on, look—you might have some grievances with Yun Chung. But that’s all ancient history, isn’t it? Why do you keep bringing it up?”
“Unni, I—”

Jo Hee-on had her own sense of injustice, and her lower lip jutted out noticeably.
But she seemed to understand that she had no allies here.

“Either way, you can’t make her cry.”
“That wasn’t my intention….”
“Then why bring up conflicts from your previous Entertainment Company? It’s not necessary.”
“It was just small talk, small talk. I was saying how impressive and wonderful it is that Yun Chung has grown so well.”

Are you her mother? Impressive?
It was absurd.
Jo Hee-on was scolded mercilessly by Lee Gyeong-a.
If only Park Ha-eun had been here, she might not have been pushed back so hard.
But here there was only Lee Gyeong-a and me, both desperate to avoid controversy, and Ryu Bora, who cared about nothing in this world.
Ryu Bora literally had “indifference” written all over her face.
I’ve been thinking this for a while now… she really is her own person….
Should I say I’m envious…?

“What do you think, Ryu Bora?”

Lee Gyeong-a, unable to contain her frustration any longer, finally asked.

“Hee-on, do you still have lingering feelings toward Yun Chung?”
“I don’t.”
“Yun Chung, is there anything you want to say?”

There was plenty.
I recalled the things Jo Hee-on and Kim Ryeo-yu had done.
Or rather, the things they were supposed to have done.
That incident—the one that caused Yun Chung to spectacularly fail the third mission.
Truth be told, Jo Hee-on and Kim Ryeo-yu had applied psychological pressure on Yun Chung, but it had remained relatively minor so far.
But that incident was on an entirely different scale.
It was the kind of thing that could destroy an entire trainee’s career.
The problem was timing—that incident wasn’t meant to happen yet.
It had occurred in my past life, but it might not happen in this one.
I looked at Jo Hee-on.
Was it right to give her another chance?
Would she truly make a different choice this time around?

“…If Hee-on doesn’t, then neither do I.”

There was no justification yet.
For now, I would simply observe.

“Then that settles it. I think we should all just focus on practice.”

Ryu Bora, with her characteristic detached gaze, lifted only the corners of her mouth in a faint smile.

“…Phew. Alright. Let’s move past this for now. Still, Hee-on, if there’s anything bothering you, tell us when we’re all together, okay?”
“…Yes.”

Jo Hee-on bowed her head in acceptance.
She understood that pushing further would only damage her image.

“Since we’re all here anyway, let’s discuss the concept and stage setup.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”

I immediately picked up on what Ryu Bora was saying.
Exactly what I wanted to hear.

“Is this because of the choreography?”

Lee Gyeong-a seemed to understand what I was getting at.

“Yes. The producer mentioned something about it too.”

In fact, during the recording session not long ago, Dan-ha and Han Jae-i had made a suggestion.

“Just because you’re in a vocal position doesn’t mean you have to stand still and sing.”
“Exactly, exactly. It’s about maximizing the vocal’s appeal.”
“If the stage needs any kind of device or element, I’d love for us to use whatever helps.”

Whether it was choreography or anything else.
The intent from both producers was crystal clear.
Do whatever helps the stage itself.

“I was thinking we could add some choreography.”
“I think that sounds good too.”

Lee Gyeong-a seemed to have been bothered by that suggestion as well, and spoke up immediately.
Surprisingly, Jo Hee-on agreed too.
It was fortunate that she was being cooperative.

“I’ve actually been thinking about something.”
“Oh, Yun Chung.”

Lee Gyeong-a clapped dramatically.
That senior’s effort to lift the mood no matter what….
My heart felt a little warm….

“So basically… like this… this part could go like this… what if we did it this way?”
“Oho.”

The three of them listened to my proposal with deeply thoughtful expressions.

“The idea itself seems really solid. It doesn’t look like it would overlap with other teams. It’ll be interesting to watch too.”

Ryu Bora was the first to accept it.

“Yeah. It seems like it’ll be really tough, but it’s the kind of stage that feels rewarding once you pull it off.”
“I… think the idea is good too.”

Surprisingly, it seemed to be accepted without much resistance.
Thank goodness.
To be honest, if it didn’t work out, I was prepared to try convincing Dan-ha and Jae-yi instead.
Usually with things like this, if you persuade the person with power, everything gets resolved quickly.

“Especially in this part, if Bora does it like this…”
“Good. Good. Bora’s going to do really well at this, don’t you think?”

Lee Gyeong-a seemed satisfied and clapped again.

“So that means Bora is basically the center…?”

But Jo Hee-on had a different reaction.

“No, that’s not it. We divided the parts equally. Bora just gets this section-”
“But even so, doesn’t that mean Bora ends up with the most impactful part? The audience will naturally think of Bora as the center, won’t they?”

So she just doesn’t like not being the focus.
I understand the feeling, but…

“Then do you want to try it, Hee-on?”
“…”

Jo Hee-on’s response was ambiguous.
She clearly doesn’t think she can pull it off.
Of course not.
This part requires acting ability.
And from when she was picking a fight earlier, I could tell—she can’t even act nice convincingly.
What kind of acting would someone like that even do?

“If you have any other ideas, feel free to suggest them anytime. We’ll consider them all together.”

But I couldn’t give them grounds for conflict.
I had to make it clear that I was putting in the effort.
Besides, the cameras were rolling.
Of course, Jo Hee-on couldn’t come up with an answer.
Ideas didn’t just spring forth on command like that.
In the end, Jo Hee-on surrendered.

“But…”

Then Ryu Bora suddenly spoke up.

“Don’t you think Yun Chung would do it better than me?”

What?

“It was Yun Chung’s idea in the first place, and she interpreted it so much better too. I think it would be better if Yun Chung did it instead of me.”

No, this isn’t what I wanted.
I barely managed to suppress the wavering in my eyes.
Why does she refuse even when I’m practically spoon-feeding her the opportunity?

“No, you suit it much better than me. I’ve never even acted before.”
“I don’t know, you have the face of someone who’d be good at acting.”

What kind of face was that supposed to be?

“There’s something in your eyes—a sense of narrative, you know? Haven’t people told you that you look like you have a story?”
“…I’m not sure?”

Yun Chung had never heard such a thing.
It was Baek Nok-ha who had heard words like that.
She’d heard something about looking like a fallen princess.
Though I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant…
But that was my original face, not Yun Chung’s.
Yun Chung’s face was rather delicate and sharp-featured, wasn’t it?

“Oh, I think I know what you mean. It’s like she doesn’t seem twenty—more mature somehow. There’s a sense of composure to her.”

That’s… well, you’re not wrong about that.
I was flustered by how strangely things were unfolding.
I’ve never acted before.
At best, I’ve only done a cameo in a drama or acted in my own music video!
Of course, the reception was generally positive—people said I did surprisingly well—but….
That was “well for a singer,” not “well for an actress.”

“Besides, you ranked highest here anyway. It’s good for us too if you become the MVP of MVPs.”

Lee Gyeong-a nodded in agreement.

“Right. We benefit if the overall first place is on our team. Among us, Yun Chung has the highest potential. I think we need to push you forward to some degree.”

It was persuasive, but….
Acting—I hadn’t even considered it, so I was taken aback.

“If doing it alone feels burdensome, what about this?”

As I continued to hesitate, Ryu Bora looked directly into my eyes and spoke.

“The producers said it was a story about two people anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“What if Ryu Bora and I do it together? It would be less burdensome than doing it alone.”

Now that was genuinely appealing.
Hmm.
Why not give it a try?

“Alright. Gyeong-a, what do you think?”
“Then… should we pair everyone up in twos?”

I glanced at Jo Hee-on.
Her face is going to burst from excitement, absolutely burst.

“Lee Gyeong-a and Jo Hee-on as one pair. Ryu Bora and I as another. That way each pair takes on the role of ‘two people’ and performs on stage. I think it’ll be fun while getting attention evenly distributed.”
“That’s a good idea.”

Jo Hee-on seized the opportunity and jumped in immediately.
It was transparent behavior, but at least it was better than being passive.
We ultimately reached an agreement on that.

“Well, since we’ve settled on the concept, shall we start seriously working on the choreography?”
“Yes.”

It was three in the morning by the time we finally left.
I didn’t know it then.
What kind of upheaval this stage would bring.

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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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