Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 46

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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 46.

“We’re here! Have some ice cream!”
“You’re late. What were you two doing, gossiping?”
“Oh, just… building camaraderie?”
“…You two?”

Lee Gyeong-a looked at us both in turn with an expression that screamed disbelief.
Jo Hee-on kept her lips pressed firmly together while huffing indignantly, while I stood there grinning with a refreshed spirit.

“Who bought this?”
“Hee-on did. Thanks, Hee-on.”
“…”
“Oh, Hee-on bought it? I’ll enjoy it.”
“…Yes.”

Ryu Bora glanced at Jo Hee-on’s face, and it was clear she’d intuited something.
The way she popped a watermelon-flavored ice cream into her mouth while subtly lifting the corners of her lips looked decidedly meaningful.
What’s with that smug grin? It’s unsettling.
After we each finished our ice cream, we returned to practice as if nothing had happened.

A promise left unfulfilled
With a heart tearing apart
You—
I—

Jo Hee-on sang with far more intensity than before, as if she’d absorbed every word I’d said.
She should have done this from the start.
Then she wouldn’t have gotten criticized so harshly during the midterm evaluation.

“Wow, Hee-on. Did eating that ice cream give you some kind of boost? You’re so much better than before!”

Lee Gyeong-a seemed to share the same thought, her voice genuinely impressed.

“Good, let’s keep that feeling and run through it one more time!”

Ah, how satisfying.
I laughed quietly to myself.
Yet I couldn’t fully celebrate just yet.
I pulled out my phone and checked today’s date.
Today was August 3rd.
Two days remained until the main stage.
And according to Yun Chung’s original fate, “that incident” would happen tomorrow.
The incident where Yun Chung would completely botch the main stage, her image shattered beyond recovery.
Ding!

[‘Make a New Color’ Yun Chung, Third Mission Blunders… When Will It End?]

[Yun Chung, Vocal Cords Mismanaged—Why?]

[‘Make a New Color’ Yun Chung & Vocal Position Record Lowest Votes. Criticism Pours In…]

Yes.
Those were the articles that would flood in if things went as they originally should.
I glanced sideways at Jo Hee-on.
Would the same thing happen again this time?

“Gyeong-a, what ice cream is left? Let’s grab another one. It’s hot.”

Lee Gyeong-a checked the ice cream she’d stored in the refrigerator.

“There’s a cone one? Can I have this?”
“Yes, that one has peanuts on it anyway, so I can’t eat it.”
“Why? You can’t eat peanuts?”
“I have an allergy to them.”
“Oh.”

Lee Gyeong-a looked slightly surprised and put the ice cream back in the refrigerator.

“I didn’t know you had an allergy, Yun Chung. Is it just peanuts I need to watch out for?”
“Yes, I don’t have allergies to anything else—just peanuts, oddly enough.”

Jo Hee-on and Ryu Bora each grabbed an ice cream.

“That’s strange. I thought you were allergic to peaches, not something else?”
“Huh? No, it’s peanuts.”

Jo Hee-on tilted her head.
As if something didn’t add up.

“Really?”
“Yeah. I just ate peach ice cream earlier, remember?”

I pointed to the half-eaten peach ice cream wrapper in the trash.
Only then did Jo Hee-on nod in understanding.

“But I never told you I had an allergy. How did you know?”

At my question, Jo Hee-on flinched before shrugging her shoulders.

“You mentioned it at the Dormitory. You must have forgotten you said it.”
“…Really?”

I let it slide.

“We should be careful with peanuts when Yun Chung eats. Let’s all get something without peanuts.”
“Then unnie, you can’t eat tantan noodles?”

Ryu Bora stared at me intently.

“I can’t.”
“Peanut butter too?”
“Can’t have that either.”
“…That’s so sad. Peanut butter toast is delicious.”
“…I’m sad about it too.”

We amicably shared ice cream, each taking a turn.
Then we dove back into practice.
We really only had two days left, after all.

***

“…So you’re allergic to peanuts, not peaches?”

A luxury sedan.
In the back seat sat two women who still carried an air of inexperience.
And in the driver’s seat sat a woman who bore the unmistakable mark of success.
The woman in the driver’s seat glanced at those behind her through the rearview mirror.

“Yes, she was eating peach ice cream just fine, wasn’t she?”
“…That’s strange.”

The woman in the driver’s seat murmured softly to herself.

“Back then, the senior who trained with us at the Entertainment Company said she had a peach allergy, didn’t she?”

The woman with long black hair sitting in the back seat spoke up.
She shared quite an intimate relationship with the woman in the driver’s seat.
And she was also a trainee participating in Make a New Color.

“Hee-on, you heard correctly, right?”
“I’m telling you, yes. How many times do I have to say it? If you’re really confused, why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Jo Hee-on answered Kim Ryeo-yu’s suspicion with an irritated tone.
At that, Director Kim’s eyebrows in the driver’s seat shot up.
Jo Hee-on flinched and turned her gaze out the window.

“Then I’ll use peanut powder instead of peach skin powder.”

Director Kim spoke while turning the steering wheel.

“Anyway, since she only eats chicken breast every morning, it shouldn’t be too difficult. She even eats chicken breast alone at the Dormitory.”

Kim Ryeo-yu monitored the real-time SNS timeline reactions as she spoke.
The broadcast was still airing the second mission stage.
Yet criticism directed at Kim Ryeo-yu was already intensifying.
With each passing day, public opinion turned increasingly against her.
If things continued this way, she might not even secure a spot in the debut lineup, let alone first place.
Kim Ryeo-yu forcefully suppressed the mounting rage building inside her.
This was all because of Yun Chung.
It was nothing, really, but thinking about it made her blood boil with fury.
If Ryu Bora, Seo Baek-young, or Kim Geum had performed well instead, the damage would have been minimal.
They were already strong debut candidates from the start.
But Yun Chung—she was someone who would be lucky to avoid ranking twelfth.
At every Colors monthly evaluation, she was the one who burdened everyone and received nothing but contempt.
Now she was one of the top contenders for first place.
No matter how much it was due to favoritism, she’d even claimed first place at the ranking announcement.
This couldn’t be allowed to continue.
She had to stop her by any means necessary.

“Tomorrow, I’ll put a little peanut powder between the chicken breast. She has a severe allergy—even a small amount causes hives all over her body and her vocal cords swell up.”

Peanut powder?
Jo Hee-on looked at Kim Ryeo-yu with slight alarm.
She’d suspected, but was she really going through with it?
Jo Hee-on was one of the few who knew Kim Ryeo-yu’s true nature.
The other trainees feared her vaguely, but they only saw her as a senior with a strong personality.
But Kim Ryeo-yu was more than that.
She was someone who believed that harming others was ‘naturally’ necessary to achieve her goals.
That was who Kim Ryeo-yu was.
Director Kim kept her in check to prevent character controversies from erupting after her debut, which was the only reason major incidents hadn’t surfaced yet.
But Kim Ryeo-yu revealed her true nature unfiltered only to Jo Hee-on.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean she completely hides her character….’

Away from Director Kim’s sight, Kim Ryeo-yu committed all manner of misdeeds.
Bullying anyone who seemed weak was her hobby.
She did it to relieve the stress accumulated from the grueling trainee life.
And Kim Ryeo-yu made Jo Hee-on complicit in her wrongdoings so she couldn’t expose her.
Things like feeding insects to Yun Chung, for instance.

“But anyway, wouldn’t medicine cure it all?”

Jo Hee-on asked carefully.

“That’s not it. I need to take the medication beforehand for it to subside quickly. Once an allergic reaction starts, it takes at least several days to fully recover. With two days left until the performance, if I take it tomorrow, I’ll be completely out of commission for a day or two.”
“….”

Jo Hee-on’s expression grew troubled.

“What?”

Kim Ryeo-yu, noticing her hesitation, asked sharply.

“But what if someone finds out?”
“How would they find out? Are you planning to send it to the National Forensic Service?”

Kim Ryeo-yu snorted derisively.

“We just blame it on her eating something wrong somewhere.”
“Or we claim she faked it because she lacked confidence.”

Director Kim spoke coldly as well.

“There are trainees like that. They don’t practice and then lie about being sick during the monthly evaluation to avoid criticism.”
“Right. And she’s always been sickly during the monthly evaluations anyway. We just bring up those records and say she’s using the same excuse every evaluation period.”
“If she wants to become a professional, we should tell her that excuses don’t work. If the atmosphere seems off, I’ll step in and steer the conversation appropriately.”

Jo Hee-on’s face grew increasingly pale as she listened to their conversation.
Blood truly told—the way they spoke and thought were absolutely identical.
Equally chilling.

“Isn’t that… a bit dangerous? I read online that it could be fatal….”
“People don’t die that easily. We’re not using a lot, just a little bit.”

But how could they know that for certain?
They didn’t even know the exact lethal dose.
Jo Hee-on was beginning to feel sick.
What if they actually ended up killing her?

“Are you scared, Hee-on?”

Kim Ryeo-yu snickered, mocking Jo Hee-on.

“What’s with all this fear? Just sprinkle a little. And she’ll definitely have medicine on her anyway. Kids with allergies always carry their medication.”
“What if she doesn’t…?”
“Then it’s her fault for not being careful.”

How could logic work that way?
Jo Hee-on couldn’t respond.
Kim Ryeo-yu knew well how Jo Hee-on wavered.
But Kim Ryeo-yu also knew the weapon that could keep Jo Hee-on in line.

“Hee-on, don’t you want to debut? You’re twenty years old. If you fail this, do you really think another Entertainment Company will take you? You know twenty is the cutoff age for idols.”

Director Kim nodded in agreement.

“If you don’t become an idol, what else will you do? You’re not thinking of becoming an actress, are you? You don’t have a face like Ryu Bora’s.”
“Why did she even enter the idol industry with that face?”

Both of them laughed mockingly.
But Jo Hee-on couldn’t laugh.
Her family had recently notified her they would cut off their support.
If she didn’t debut this time, the path to entertainment was absolutely over.
More than ten years of training, and it would all vanish like this.

“…You’re really going to put that judge on the panel, right?”
“Colors is in my hands. Can’t I do this one thing?”

Director Kim spoke as though it were obvious.
At those words, Jo Hee-on finally broke.
Yes.
Just close my eyes once, and I can debut.
As a Colors idol, no less.
It won’t kill her. I can control the amount.

“But… how will you put it in?”

At Jo Hee-on’s question, Director Kim burst into laughter.
Kim Ryeo-yu did the same.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Jo Hee-on furrowed her brow.
What’s going on?

“Hee-on, I can’t exactly sneak into your dormitory like a thief, can I?”

At Director Kim’s words, Jo Hee-on fell silent.
So that means…

“Of course you have to do it.”
“What?”

Kim Ryeo-yu drove the point home completely.
Jo Hee-on’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“Why me? You’re there too. You live in the same dormitory, so why…!”
“If I do it, it’ll be too obvious. But you’re on the same team as her. If Yun Chung gets eliminated, you lose the benefit too. Would you really suspect your own teammate?”

Kim Ryeo-yu smiled sweetly.

“Just this once, please. If I don’t have an alibi, everyone will obviously suspect me first.”

Well, that’s obvious.
Everyone knows you’re the craziest one here.
Jo Hee-on trembled with indignation, unable to find words.

“In exchange, I’ll get the peanut powder for you right now.”

Director Kim glanced at his watch.
It would be difficult to find it at this hour, but nothing was impossible.

“Anyway, between 3 and 7 in the morning, the cameras don’t roll unless there’s something specific to film. Since no one mentioned filming, the cameras will be off. No one will ever know.”
“….”

Jo Hee-on shook her head.
Her feelings were incredibly complicated.

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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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