Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 5

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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 5.

“Ah, you mean Seo Baek-young?”

Oh PD hummed and lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Seo Baek-young mentioned it earlier too. She said her skills have improved thanks to practicing together with you.”

A lie.
Yun Chung and Seo Baek-young had never practiced alone together even once.

“Oh no, it’s not just about practicing together. My unnie has been raising me up.”

This is also a lie.
Raising? What raising. I raised myself.

“You two seem to have a wonderful relationship, don’t you?”
“Of course. My unnie is my savior.”

How did things come to this?
For that, I need to go back thirty minutes.

***

While the other trainees were taking their interviews in turn.
I handed a water bottle to Seo Baek-young.
I knew.
That Oh PD would deliberately push our interview to the very end.
That after extracting all the reactions and material from the other trainees, he would save us for last.
Broadcast strategy one-on-one. I’ve seen it before.

“…Thank you.”

Fortunately, Seo Baek-young looked at me with suspicion but didn’t refuse.

“I should be thanking you, unnie.”
“You’re thanking me?”

Seo Baek-young asked as if taken aback.

“Yes. Thanks to you, I got screen time and was able to showcase my skills.”

I didn’t really think I’d end up on the cutting room floor.
I was genuinely grateful to Seo Baek-young.
Of course, I didn’t think she’d done it with good intentions.
But the result turned out well, didn’t it?

“…No. You got screen time because you performed well. I mean, I also got screen time standing next to you, so in the end it worked out well for both of us.”

That would be true.
I agreed immediately.
Of course, the spotlight would shine more brightly on me.
Since I was a complete before-and-after case, I’d naturally get more airtime.
But Seo Baek-young had also demonstrated her skills properly standing beside me.
And regardless of what happened behind the scenes, on the broadcast, Seo Baek-young was the one who said she’d help me.
From her perspective, she had nothing to lose.

“So, about that, unnie.”

I sat down beside Seo Baek-young.

“Are you interested in getting even more screen time?”
“…What?”
“Something that’s not sensationalized, but in a good direction.”

***

“Ah, then could you say this while looking at the camera?”

The production staff asked with a kind smile.

“‘I even started to wonder if Yun Chung had been hiding her skills all this time.'”

The moment Baek-young heard that request, she sensed it.
This was that moment Yun Chung had mentioned earlier.

‘Oh PD and the writers will definitely be confused. They thought I couldn’t dance, but I’m dancing better than expected.’
‘I’m curious about that too. How exactly did you—’
‘I’ll explain that later. There’s no time right now.’

At that moment, Seo Baek-young thought to herself.
Had she always spoken with such confidence?
She’d always seemed so passive before.

‘When my interview comes up later, Oh PD will definitely ask if I’ve been hiding my skills all this time.’
‘…What?’
‘What if you agree with that assessment?’
‘…Huh?’
‘It might look like you benefit for a moment. My image would seem to suffer. But that’s not actually true. In the long run, I’ll prove that I wasn’t hiding my skills—I was simply growing. Then you’ll just become the person who badmouths other trainees out of jealousy.’
‘…!’
‘So let’s make it a win-win instead. Build some rapport.’

“Seo Baek-young?”
“Yes.”

Seo Baek-young quickly collected herself.
And she delivered her prepared answer.

“I’m sorry. Actually, I know why Yun Chung suddenly improved so much.”
“…Hmm?”

Oh PD stiffened as he asked for clarification.
His eyes asked: what is she talking about?

“Yun Chung and I practiced together all night. For three days straight. I helped her with the details of her dancing.”
“…Seo Baek-young helped her?”
“Yes. And Yun Chung—”

Seo Baek-young paused mid-sentence.
Should I really go this far?
But ultimately, she steeled her resolve.

“Yun Chung helped me with my vocal training.”

She had nothing to lose from this.

***

Oh PD’s expression was peculiar.
In truth, he had intended to pit the two of them against each other in conflict.
How entertaining it would be.
Colors’ longest-tenured trainee versus shortest-tenured trainee.
Of course, he knew Yun Chung’s total training period was ten years. But Oh PD didn’t care.
Her tenure at Colors was merely a few months at most. A sensational title was all that mattered.
Stagnant veteran versus newbie.
Or perhaps, main dancer versus main vocalist—a clash of roles.
He could fabricate any number of titles.
Oh PD was confident.
Until Seo Baek-young blocked that confidence.
And until Yun Chung trampled even his last shred of it.

“Yes. As you saw earlier, my sister was very concerned about my dancing. So whenever she had time, she would watch me and help me.”

I deliberately adopted an expression of deep remorse.

“The truth is, I’m really… so bad at dancing that I’ve always been a burden to the other trainees.”

In moments like these, one must appear pitiful.
So pitiful that it becomes utterly uninteresting.

“That’s why I was embarrassed, but I asked Seo Baek-young to help me.”
“Why specifically Seo Baek-young? There are many other trainees.”

But Oh PD refused to relent.
He had to obtain material by any means.
Sensational content for broadcast.

“Well, she’s been at Colors the longest, and she’s such an excellent dancer.”

Yet I was no pushover either.
I absolutely could not let this slip through!

“How are your relationships with the other trainees?”
“They’re all so kind to me!”

I didn’t give a lengthy answer.
The longer I spoke, the more material they’d have to edit.

“Seo Baek-young mentioned you’ve been helping her with vocal training?”
“Yes. Though my skills are still lacking…!”

I said that and quickly added more.

“But honestly, she helps me so much more. Still, I’m grateful for her help, but…”

I smiled.

“What I love most is just being able to spend a little more time with her. I really do love Baek-young.”

Even if it ended up on the cutting room floor.

***

Once all the pre-interviews wrapped up, filming for the day ended too.
It had been an incredibly long day, truly.
If the first day was this exhausting, the rest would be brutal.
I hastily gathered my things and headed toward the Vocal Training Room.
I figured I’d warm up my voice for the first time in a while.
But then,

“Hey!”

Someone called out to me.
I turned around and saw a familiar face.
Kim Ryeo-yu.
A trainee like me on “Make a New Color”.
And—

“Your dancing was great earlier.”

In the original timeline, the trainee who would debut in second place.

“Oh, thanks.”

I immediately greeted Kim Ryeo-yu.

“Wow, but how did you suddenly get so good at dancing? I was pretty surprised earlier.”
“Seo Baek-young helped me a lot.”
“Seo Baek-young?”

Ryeo-yu asked back, as if genuinely taken aback.

“She’s a good person and all, but she’s not someone with enough free time to coach other trainees.”
“…We just helped each other with what we lacked, that’s all.”

I had already told Seo Baek-young to keep our arrangement confidential.
And the other trainees too.
Not that I didn’t trust them, but they could slip under Oh PD’s leading questions.
Fortunately, Seo Baek-young was good at understanding what I meant.

“Ah, so you helped your sister with vocal training? Right?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Then help me too!”

Ryeo-yu said it cheerfully.
…The problem was.

“Huh? Why?”

She had never been close to the original Yun Chung at all.
If anything, she was the type to look down on her.
In Yun Chung’s memories, Kim Ryeo-yu was roughly like this.
A rising star.
The niece of Director Kim, one of the judges.
And someone who subtly looked down on and dismissed Yun Chung.

“Why? We might debut together anyway~ Wouldn’t it be beneficial for us to help each other? Like you and Seo Baek-young.”
“Sorry.”

And in Baek Nok-ha’s memories, Kim Ryeo-yu was like this.

“I only need Seo Baek-young.”
“…What?”

A girl who caused a major scandal just a year after debuting and disbanded her entire team.

“Oh, I misspoke. That’s not what I meant. I’ve already worked out the practice schedule with Seo Baek-young, so it might be difficult.”
“…Oh, I see?”

Ryeo-yu’s expression looked quite uncomfortable.
But since there was no legitimate reason to refuse, she seemed to be accepting it reluctantly.

“Instead, if we end up on the same team for the next mission, I’ll help you then. As much as I can.”

Help, my ass.
I don’t know about others, but I’m absolutely going to block your debut.

***

The Vocal Training Room.
Commonly called the Vocal Room.
The reason I came here was—

“Ah, ah.”

To warm up my voice after so long.
For idols, dancing is important, but vocals are crucial.
After all, fundamentally, we’re singers.

“Just as I thought—my vocal cords are completely damaged.”

And more than anything, Yun Chung had a serious problem.
Her previous agency hadn’t provided proper vocal training, so her vocal cords had deteriorated significantly.

“At least one thing is fortunate… I kept my original voice.”

That was right.
The voice I was producing now wasn’t Yun Chung’s voice—it was Baek Nok-ha’s voice.
No one around me seemed to find it strange either.
Was this also some kind of demonic power?

“I won’t need to adapt to a new voice.”

My vocal range remained unchanged. My skills remained unchanged.
The only issue was that my vocal cords were significantly fatigued and needed proper care.
I had to use them carefully.
One wrong move, and my voice could give out at a crucial moment.

“…Should I start by buying some pear and balloon flower juice?”

I quietly turned on my phone and checked Yun Chung’s bank balance.
Hmm.
…I’d have to buy the pear and balloon flower juice later.
Yun Chung had no family.
That meant there was no one to support or protect her.
Perhaps because of that, I found myself caring even more.
Since I’d already decided to help, I wanted to do it properly.
Even though I was helping due to our deal, I wanted to give it my all.
Especially after feeling the cold, desolate atmosphere of that Practice Room today.
Loneliness was an emotion I knew better than anyone.
There were times when I felt lonely even surrounded by hundreds, thousands of people.
I was lonely among the crowds, while Yun Chung was lonely in solitude.

“…Let me stop overthinking.”

For now, I needed to focus on the upcoming shoot.
Because the next shoot would be a truly important first impression.
Make a New Color, or “MANC” for short, actively utilized OTube, the video streaming platform.
They planned to upload videos to OTube even before the broadcast aired.
That was right.
Tomorrow was the day we’d film the second video to be uploaded to OTube.
The first video would be a teaser, but honestly, it was hard to tell who was who in that, so I’d skip worrying about it.
The real important one was tomorrow.
Specifically—
Self-introduction.

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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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